Trust Again
by Shawn45
Summary: Ellen learns that her parents have been poisoning her all her life, claiming that it was a terminal illness. Cynical and jaded from years of living with her unloving family, Ellen decides to run away from her home, and she just happens to run into a pair of unsuspecting hunters. Contains a little bit of Ellen/Viola YURI
1. Trust Again

Trust Again

Ellen knew that she had to escape now, but she was unsure of how she would do it, since her parents always kept such a close eye on her, not to mention the household staff would always make sure she would stay in her room, and would report to her parents if they caught her.

She lived in a gigantic house in the middle of the woods – they had no neighbors, and the only people who ever visited were people in business suits who attended to her parents stupidly large parties that they held, and they would always show her off like their little trophy, and use her to gain sympathy, since she was the little sick girl who needed help. She hated it all so much… She was eleven years old, and she had never even set foot outside of the house except for a few very rare occasions, like when she got her pet cat for instance, or when she was really little. Those were the times before she felt this sick, when her mother would take her out to some places, but those times were long gone, and the woman was just under the thrall of her father… Her horrible, despicable father.

She sneaked out of her room one night and went over to listen at the door to her parent's room, and she heard her parents arguing, and she learned something that she wished weren't true, but it explained so much! She learned that her parents had been poisoning her since a young age, and they only wanted her to be sick so they could garner sympathy! Why would her parents do something so horrible? The only positive she could think of was that at least she wasn't actually terminally ill, so if she didn't take her pills, she could escape!

With that thought in mind, the girl went back to her room and relaxed in her bed, holding her cat close to her body as her father came in with her pills and a glass of water. As per usual, the man barely even looked at her. She didn't react to him at all, and simply reached over and grabbed the pills out of his hand and the glass of water, and pretended to swallow the pills, but she actually hid them under her tongue, and then she took a drink of the water afterwards. Satisfied, her father left without a single word, not even sparing a glance back at her - it was clear he was disgusted with her, and as far as she was concerned, the feeling was mutual!

She quickly leaned over the bed and spat the pills out of her mouth, and she made sure to spit out the excess saliva as well, afraid that it might contain whatever poison she was being fed. After that was done, she made sure to sit back against her pillow, and she hugged her cat to herself, awaiting the day when she could escape. "It'll be soon…" She promised her cat, "Soon we can get out of here and find a real dad to love us like in all those movies and books we read!" Her cat mewled at her. She nodded, "Yeah, I can't wait to get out either!"

Feeling better already, she covered herself up with her blanket, and fell asleep, dreaming of a time when she could get out and live like a normal girl.

XxXxXxX

Ellen held her cat tightly to herself as she ran through the woods in the darkness, and she tripped on a few vines here and there, nearly falling to the ground, but she would quickly recover and keep on running, not wanting to be caught. She could hear the yells of the household staff calling out to her to come back, claiming that what she was doing was foolish. Honestly, the only foolish thing she could do at this point would be to stay at that house any longer.

"Come on, we can get out of here!" She told her pet cat, who was thankfully being very still as she ran. Her cat was silent, but that was ok with her, since she had to concentrate on running as fast as she could through the tightly packed trees and shrubbery, and she would occasionally gasp out in pain as she ran into a thorn bush, cutting up her legs, leaving light gashes that would bleed. She had to ignore them however, since every time she stopped to rest, she would hear the distant sound of voices calling out to her.

After about two hours of running, her feet were throbbing in pain, and she slowed down to a crawl, falling onto the grass of a small opening in the woods. She let go of her cat, and gasped out short breaths of air, her body was too sore to keep going, and she was very tired and thirsty. "G – Go on without me…" She muttered to her cat. Her cat instead looked to her and curled up into her side, purring as it did so. Ellen couldn't help but giggle at her pet's defiance, and she closed her eyes, her last thoughts before losing consciousness was wondering how dirty her hair and clothes must have become.

She didn't know how long she was out, but it sure didn't feel like a very long time, and she groaned as she felt something poking her in the shoulder. She reached a hand up and tried to push... whatever it was that was poking her away, and it felt like... a finger? Was there a person there?

"Daddy! She's awake!" Ellen heard the voice of a girl calling out, confirming that she did in fact feel another person.

"Who is it…?" Ellen muttered, opening her eyes then quickly shutting them as the bright sunlight shined into them. She blinked a few times, allowing her vision to adjust, and she looked around. She had apparently run into a small clearing, where the sun beat down on her body, and she could actually hear the birds chirping! She remembered hearing them at her house occasionally, but most of the time her parents forced her to keep her window closed. She brought her attention back to the two people who suddenly filled her view.

"The name's Mike." An older man spoke up as he appeared in her vision. The man was at least in his mid-forties, and he had blonde hair that crept out under a goofy camouflage hat he was wearing. He was also wearing a camouflage coat and pants, and wore big black boots. His blue eyes were focused on her the entire time, and he actually looked… concerned? Ellen didn't have much experience with that emotion, especially with it being directed at her, so she just awkwardly look at him, unsure of what to do or say.

"And I'm Viola!" The girl beside the man spoke up, looking very curious. She was also wearing a goofy camouflage hat that covered her blonde hair, and her blue eyes stared at her curiously. Like her father, she wore a camouflage jacket and pants, and boots, but they were all much smaller to fit her size. Ellen then noticed that the man had a rifle settled on a nearby tree stump. She quickly reached the conclusion that the two who woke her up were hunters.

"It's nice to meet you two," She replied, looking down at her own clothes and she grimaced in disgust. Her dress was completely ruined – there were holes and rips all over it, and she could see that her purple hair was caked in dirt, and her skin felt like it had a grimy mixture of dirt and sweat. She decided to ignore her bad state for now, and her gold eyes studied in the two in front of her. She noticed that the girl - Viola, she remembered - was looking at her much the same way, but the girl had a... a smile on her face? What was she planning? Ellen tensed at the look, ready for whatever foul plan the girl might have in store.

"What's your name?" Mike asked kindly, leaning forward and handing the girl a canteen. He noticed that she was eyeing it oddly, and he chuckled, "It's just water, I swear."

She hesitantly took the canteen, and then spoke, "My name is Ellen, and my cat is Mr. Whiskers." She nodded to the cat that was sitting beside her foot. She then shook the canteen, and opened the top, looking inside. She wasn't sure if she should try to drink it, so she set it in her lap for now, despite the fact that water sounded absolutely amazing right away now.

"It's nice to meet you Ellen!" Viola exclaimed excitedly. Her eyes shining in excitement, and Ellen again wasn't sure what to make of the girl. She still felt guarded, but... perhaps the girl wasn't a threat. Her father on the other hand... She shook her head, and returned her gaze back to Viola.

"It's good to meet you too," Ellen mumbled, looking at Viola curiously. It had been so rare for her to see another girl her age, so the sight of Viola – a girl her age – being beside her AND wearing the camouflage was quite a novel experience.

"Why were you out here in the woods?" Mike asked, getting straight to the point. He knelt down across from her, perhaps trying to make her feel at ease, but Ellen knew better. She was ready to bolt the minute these two made a move. Her fingers gripped the canteen in her hand tightly, and she narrowed her gaze at the two of them.

"Well, I was…" She blushed when her stomach suddenly rumbled, and she placed her hand over it, "Um…" She hated the fact that she showed any weakness to these two, but she had been avoiding meals for several days prior to this, for fear that her parents might be poisoning that as well. She honestly felt very weak, and it was a miracle, as far as she was concerned, that she even made it this far.

"Daddy, we have some food back at camp! Let's take her with us!" Viola turned to her father, clapping her hands together, "Pretty please?"

Mike hesitantly nodded, "Ok, yeah, I guess we can feed you. Are you good enough to walk?"

Her limbs still felt incredibly sore, and they stung when she moved them around too much, but compared to being sick all day, this was nothing. She nodded her head, "I'm fine." She got to her feet to prove her point, but she stumbled a bit, feeling light headed. She couldn't help but grit her teeth in fury. Why was her body so weak! She couldn't show weakness to anyone!

"Alright then," Mike turned to Viola after Ellen's display of stumbling around, "Dear, would you mind assisting her if she needs it?"

"Ok!" Viola excited went over to Ellen's side, and Ellen in a moment of weakness, actually allowed her to stand next to her. Ellen felt disgusted with herself for not bolting, but they promised food, and she was quite hungry... She couldn't deny that her stomach simply hurt when she thought about food, and she wouldn't mind resting for a bit somewhere. So trio plus one cat started to walk towards the campsite that Viola and her dad set up, Ellen eyeing them warily the entire time.

"Why are you so cut up?" Viola asked on their hike back, turning to look up and down Ellen's body. Ellen felt a bit self conscious, and tried to cover the cuts on her abdomen.

Ellen then eyed Mike, wondering if the man was listening in, so she decided to be very vague about it on purpose, "I was running in the woods." She didn't know if she could trust these people, so she didn't want to give anything away.

"Why?" Viola asked, her curious blue eyes looking at her, and her kind smile trying to lower her guard. Ellen didn't fall for it though, and just replied like she would to anyone else.

"Because I wanted to go somewhere." Ellen replied evasively. She wasn't going to give away any information to these people.

"Where to?" Viola asked yet again. Ellen felt a headache coming, and she shook her head.

"You're full of questions, aren't you?" Ellen snapped at the girl, giving her a cold glare.

"Viola, dear," Mike spoke up, "Try not to agitate her, will you?"

Viola sheepishly giggled, and turned to look at Ellen, smiling apologetically, "I'm sorry." She seem to notice the glare, and she did at least back off. For that, Ellen was very grateful.

"It's all right." Ellen replied, feeling a little merciful. As they continued their hike, Ellen tripped on a root, and nearly fell to the ground, but Viola was quick and caught her before she hit the ground, and gently helped her back to her feet.

"Watch your step," Viola told her as she helped her up. Ellen felt humiliated – she didn't want to accept help from anyone! She had to do things on her own! Everyone else was an enemy and couldn't be trusted! If her father did one thing right when she was growing up, it was teaching her that essential lesson. Instead of thanking Viola, she looked away, feel a flush cross her face, and feeling stupid for tripping in the first place.

"All right, we're here." Mike spoke up as they entered a somewhat clear section of the woods, where there was one semi-large tent set up that could hold at least four people comfortably. In front of the tent was shallow hole that was dug out with rocks surrounding it, and in the middle were a few logs that were still charred. Circled around the fire pit were two chairs, and a cooler, which Mike went over to and opened, bringing out a water bottle, which he handed to Ellen. Ellen handed him back the canteen she never took a sip out of, and accepted the water bottle, and examined it.

The seal was still on, so either he was very well prepared and had this drugged and somehow made the seal look convincing, or it was safe. Given how badly she wanted water, she went with the latter option, and opened the water bottle, downing the entire thing within ten seconds, gasping for air as she finished. She hadn't realized how dehydrated she was, and she didn't realize that it would feel so refreshing to drink water. She didn't even know it could taste so good.

"You were really thirsty!" Viola giggled beside her, "We have some food too, though we'll have to cook it." She went to sit down in one of the two chairs by the extinguished fire.

Mike looked up to her as he sat down by the fire, leaving both chairs open for the girls, "While I'm setting this up, why don't you give her some of the beef jerky. I'm sure we have a little bit left over."

Viola nodded, "Ok, I'll do that." She got up from her chair and went to the tent and opened the door, she reached in and then brought out a bag that she reached into and pulled out a yet another smaller bag that had what Ellen presumed to be the 'jerky' inside. Viola closed put the bag back in the tent, closed the door, and then walked over to her, and handed her the bag, "try it, it's really good!"

"I don't know…" Ellen mumbled. She didn't know if she could trust these two! What if the food was poison or something? She accepted the bag regardless, looking down at it with uncertain eyes.

Viola frowned, "Come on, it's good, see?" Viola took a small piece out and chewed on it, "It's very chewy, but very good too! I know you'll like it!" Viola closed her eyes as she ate it, and it was clear she enjoyed it. Letting out a sigh, Ellen complied, and reached in to grab a piece of the so-called jerky as well, and bit into it. Her eyes lit up – Viola was right, this stuff was actually very good. She quickly took another and stuffed it into her mouth, and then another, and started to chew them. The flavor was something she hadn't ever tasted before, and she felt like she could cry it was so good. Viola wasn't lying at all when she was saying how good it was! Viola giggled at Ellen's reaction, and allowed the girl to just have the bag, and she walked over to her dad while Ellen was distracted, "Do you want me to go help her clean up?"

Mike nodded, "That might be smart. Do you think your clothes will fit her?" He had a match in his hand, which he quickly lit on fire and stuck in the pit where he had stuffed a bunch of smaller sticks in, as well as a few fire starters. He let out a sigh when the match went out before he put it down though.

Viola tapped her chin, "Yeah, she looks my size, don't you think so?" She looked over to Ellen, who was still eating the jerky, and she smiled as she watched the girl offer some to her pet cat.

"If you say so, I'll believe you," Mike answered instead, "The drive to the nearest rest stop is at least a half hour away, so instead of that, just take her to the river nearby to clean up."

"Ok." Viola replied, getting ready to move, but Mike reached over and took a hold of her sleeve. She looked over with her head tilted, "what is it, daddy?"

"No fooling around, ok? Just clean up and come right back." He warned her, giving her a very concerned look.

"I'll be fine." Viola rolled her eyes, "You trust me, right?"

He sighed, "Yeah, I do. I'm just worried." He let go of her sleeve and went back to starting the fir, lighting another match.

Sometimes having such an overprotective father could be bothersome, but Viola nodded, "It's ok, there are two of us, so nothing bad can happen, right?"

He chuckled, "I hope so. Have fun sweetheart." He cursed under his breath as his match again went out. She chuckled at her dad's luck as she went back to the tent, taking off her boots and going inside, where she found her bag full of clothes. Opening it up, she pulled out a complete change of clothes – a long sleeve shirt, a pair of pants, and of course some under garments. All of the clothes were long sleeve to protect against mosquitoes and other bugs. She also grabbed some shampoo, soap and some towels, and then came out shortly after, walking over to Ellen.

"Hey, Ellen," She spoke up, "Daddy wants me to help you get cleaned up, are you done eating for now?" She placed her free hand on her hip, smiling as she watched Ellen look up at her, blinking in surprise.

Ellen looked over to Viola and noticed that the girl had a plastic bag with what looked like some clothes and some bottles containing soap and other things. She set aside the bag of jerky on the chair that wasn't occupied, and she frowned, "Why are you helping me?"

"Well, we found you lost in the woods, and you're really dirty, so we decided to help you!" Viola explained, putting on a kind smile, trying to put Ellen at ease. She had no idea why the girl seemed to be so tense and on guard.

"Is that it though?" Ellen asked, "Do you always just help random strangers you run into?"

"Well, to be honest, you're the first 'random stranger' that we've run into when we've gone hunting." Viola admitted, "And I guess we'd help anyone who really looked like they needed it." She shrugged, "I think I would help anyone though, even if it was someone daddy's age. It's the right thing to do."

Ellen shook her head, unable to comprehend the fact that someone so willing to help others could actually exist. She then asked, "How can you be so trusting? What if I meant you ill will?"

"Ill will?" Viola giggled, "I don't know, I guess I wouldn't be very happy about that. Do you intend to hurt us?"

"I have no intention of that, no." Ellen admitted.

"Then I'll take your word for it! Now come on, let's go!" Ellen shook her head, amazed that the girl and her father would just trust some random stranger they know absolutely nothing about. Making sure her cat stayed behind, she finally decided to just follow Viola through the woods, down a long sloping path, and then they emerged at the edge of a river – the water was pretty calm, and the current didn't look too bad, so the two walked onto a small sand bank.

Ellen stared at the water, unsure of what to feel. These two people were making a complete mockery out of the lessons she got from her father. Never trust another - well these two sure broke it! They seemed to trust her immediately, Viola even seemed to _like_ her! How could that be? They didn't treat her like an enemy, they showed her compassion, they even gave her water and some food, and now they were even going to give her some clothes after they let her wash up using their own shampoo and soap! She could barely comprehend it. They merely helped her, as Viola said, because it's the right thing to do. Doing something like that could get them killed someday! They could be taken advantage of! How could they be so stupid?! However... She felt compelled to trust them, and she _hated _that fact! She wanted to be with them and protect them... Was she really some stupid little girl who would open her heart up to the first sign of kindness she received?! No! She wasn't like that! She couldn't be like that! Thinking like that only led to heartbreak later on!

"It's in the middle of July," Viola mumbled, putting her hand in the water, "but I'll warn you that it's still really cold." She had no clue what inner turmoil Ellen was going through, as she turned her to head to her, "Are you ready?"

"Hm…" Ellen mumbled, shaking her thoughts away for now and she walked forward beside Viola and put her hand in the water, retracting it immediately, "That's very cold! Do you expect me to go in there?"

"Only for a few minutes, and then you can come out and dry off!" Viola exclaimed, setting down the plastic bag beside her, "Come on, I'll join you. I'm really dirty too!"

"Wait, do you expect me to get naked? What if someone sees us?!" Ellen couldn't help but blush bright red, and instinctively cover herself, even though she was still fully clothed. The thought of getting undress with someone else was embarrassing, even if it was a girl the same age as her!

"No one is going to see us," Viola assured the girl, "We're in the middle of the woods, and we'll be in and out so fast that you won't even notice!" Ellen blushed brightly when she noticed that Viola was beginning to take off her camouflage jacket, and then she took off her pants, and then her under garments, and she quickly looked to the side, closing her eyes tightly. "Come on now, we're the same age, right?" Viola asked, smiling at how embarrassed Ellen seemed to be, "It's nothing you haven't seen before, we're both girls!"

She thought about it - she could stay in her grimy clothes for the rest of the day,along with her dirt covered hair, or she could suck it up and go in with Viola. She... She seemed at least a tiny bit trustworthy... Ellen let out a sigh, and finally consented, and took off her torn clothes at Viola's insistence. Feeling very exposed and open, she looked around the river, making sure no one other than Viola was there, and she followed Viola into the water, gasping out at how freezing the water was. She found her teeth involuntarily chattering immediately once she was waist deep in the water, and Viola turned around to her and held out the soap.

"Wow, you have cuts all over your body." Viola muttered as she gently rubbed soap along the girl's body on the cuts, causing Ellen to mewl out in pain every once in a while on the deeper cuts. Viola however didn't laugh the entire time, seeming entirely focused on cleaning Ellen's battered body. Another curious thought entered Ellen's mind - how nice and soft Viola's hands were against her body. She honestly wouldn't mind that feeling a little longer, but eventually Viola was done cleaning off her body and she felt... disappointed. With that done, Viola went to clean herself up with the soap, but Ellen stopped her.

"Wait..." Ellen muttered, feeling a blush cover her face. Why did she say anything at all?! Viola could perhaps still be an enemy! She could... No... That was stupid. She... She liked Viola... She helped her the entire day. The least she could do was repay it, even a little bit, "I - I'll clean you, if that's all right. Since you cleaned me."

Viola smiled widely, and Ellen couldn't help but suddenly feel her heart beat loudly in her ears. She felt like she had done the right thing, and she blushed as she faintly smiled back, feeling... good, for once. "That sounds fair." Viola replied, handing her the soap. Ellen took it, and began to clean Viola, rubbing it against the contours of her body, and Ellen was utterly fascinated. She had of course cleaned her own body, but to see another body, to watch it shiver as she rubbed the soap over it, and to trace out the shape... It was a new experience, and her heart kept thumping against chest as she did it. It ended all too soon, and she again felt disappointed.

With that done however, Viola turned around, giving Ellen a full frontal view of her body, causing the purple haired girl to quickly look away, blushing a brighter red that would put most others to shame. Viola didn't seem to mind or notice, and she told Ellen, "I need you to dunk your head in the water for a bit."

"Ok…" Ellen obeyed the order, disturbed at how fast she was coming to trust this girl, and she dunked her head under the water, allowing Viola to lather it up with shampoo and begin to scrub away all the grim and dirt caked to it. She blushed in embarrassment as she heard Viola talking about how disgustingly dirty it was, though it was true. For some reason, perhaps it was the disappointing tone, she whispered, "I'm sorry..." She couldn't believe she said that! Viola must have been reminding her of her parents by acting so disappointed, and she just unconsciously said something so stupid! She wasn't sorry! She'd never be sorry for anything!

"There's nothing to be sorry about," Viola chuckled, "It's just a shame that your beautiful hair is hidden behind all of this gunk. You're going to look amazing once it's clean!" She giggled as she continued to scrub, unaware of the blush that once again covered Ellen's face.

Did she actually say that her hair was beautiful? She hated it because it was the same color as her pathetic mother. She hated her mom so much for standing back and letting her father do all of those horrible things to her. However, when Viola said it was beautiful, she actually believed her for a second, and she felt her heart again thump against her chest. She shook her head, feeling tears coming to her eyes - NO! Viola was just being nice to try to get on her good side! She couldn't be loyal to her! She'd be taken advantage of! She'd have enough being taken advantage of as a child! She wouldn't let it go on any longer!

"There!" Viola grinned, though her teeth chattered due to the cold river water, "All clean! Do you want to do my hair?"

"I'll do it." Ellen muttered, taking the bottle of shampoo and watching as Viola turned around and dipped her head in the water a few times, letting out a startled gasp as she came up for breath each time. Ellen watched passively... She could so easily kill this girl... Just dip her head under the water and hold on... Viola trusted her so much, she could teach her the consequences of trust - that no one could be trusted. It was a lesson everyone should know. However, she found herself simply squeezing the shampoo into her hand, and then lathering it into Viola's hair, cleaning it for the girl.

The idea of murdering her wasn't even tempting, in fact, it was repulsive. She hated the fact that she was coming to like to this girl more and more as they spent time together! How could she stop this feeling from overcoming her?! She allowed the dilemma to repeat over and over in her head, and not even two minutes later, the two were getting out of the water, feeling even more chilled when the cold air touched their wet skin. Both girls rushed to the bag and Viola pulled out two towels for them, and the girls eagerly wrapped their bodies, trying to get warm.

"It's still c - cold…" Viola mumbled, "Don't worry… O – Once you wear your clothes and go to the fire, you'll feel a lot better." She gave her an encouraging smile.

Ellen simply nodded, unsure of what to say, and she got dressed in the clothes that Viola had provided for her. After making sure that Ellen's dirty clothes were in the plastic bag, the two made their way back up to the campsite, where Mike had pulled out a decently sized log that he was sitting on, allowing both girls to sit on the plastic chairs. fire was really big now, and true to Viola's words, Ellen did feel much better now. Her cat jumped onto her lap, and for the first time in what felt like years, Ellen felt truly relaxed, and she closed her eyes, feeling herself beginning to doze off.

Her dream was odd. She was at the side of a cliff, at the bottom was a burning pit of fire, and she found herself tempted to jump in, to give into the hate, the burning desire to simply do what she wanted without regards for anyone around her. She was about to allow herself to fall, but then she heard a voice.

"Ellen!"

She turned to look over her shoulder, and saw a blonde haired girl dressed in a simple pure white dress, her blue eyes pleading with her. Ellen recognized Viola immediately, and she knew that she now had a choice.

"Don't fall. Ellen, take my hand." Viola held out her hand, and Ellen looked at it. All she saw as she looked at Viola were doubt, fear, and uncertainty. She then looked back to the pit, and she could feel the warmth - the certainty of what would happen, the joy, her revenge... She could give in to her desires... Yes, that sounded perfect. She stopped however, when she noticed that in the fire was a man, standing there and giving her a crooked grin - her father.

Her eyes widened, and she suddenly realized something important - her father, the man she hated... She had inadvertently become like him. In her attempt to escape from him and become her own person, she had become just like him. He never cared for anyone, he didn't love, he never trusted, all of his lessons, she took to heart, but why? What did he ever do for her to make her trust him or his lessons? Why would she follow him, when in return he did nothing for her? He never cared for her, he never loved her, hell, he would be indifferent to her whether she were alive or dead.

She looked back to Viola, and realized now that she could see all the things she had always wanted within her - true unconditional love, compassion, honestly, trust, loyalty, all of the emotions she had always wanted to experience. She couldn't help but feel fear grip her heart - she had been so close to becoming like her father. She didn't even realize that she was going down the same path he was. With one final glance back at the pit of fire, she turned to Viola, and made her way over to her.

She put her hand in Viola's, "I want to be with you." She whispered, "I want to be loved... Please don't betray me..." She was gambling everything she had on Viola now - if she broke her trust, if she betrayed her, she knew she would break, and the damage would become irreversible. She wanted Viola to prove to her that her father's teachings were false, and to show her how a real family truly was. Something she never experienced.

"I'll never betray you..." Viola whispered, and Ellen was surprised when the girl reached up and wiped a tear away from her eyes. Ellen didn't even realize that she had started to cry. She sniffled, wiping her eyes on her own, and looked back up to Viola.

"Thank you."

Viola smiled, and the whole world went white.

"Hey, Ellen…"

Ellen shifted in her sleep and let out a small groan, and turned a little bit.

"I'm sorry, but we have food, are you hungry?" Viola poked her shoulder again, and Ellen opened her eyes at the mention of food, "Ah, you're awake."

"How long was I asleep?" She mumbled, reaching up and rubbing her eyes, looking around, quickly assessing her situation. She was with Viola and Mike – Viola's father – and the two seemed to be trustworthy, since they helped her. She couldn't help but remember her dream, and she frowned... She would trust these two. She wanted to believe that they wouldn't betray her. She'd gamble everything on them.

"About an hour or so." Mike answered, "Food's done, if you want some."

Ellen smelled the air, and she felt her mouth salivating. Whatever it was that he cooked, it smelled absolutely amazing. She nodded, "If you wouldn't mind, I'll have some." He nodded, and he reached behind him where a bag with all sorts of supplies was now. He pulled out a plastic plate, and then with a plastic spoon, he scooped up some of the meat in the pot above the fire and put it on her plate, and he handed it to her along with a fork.

"What is it?" She asked, poking at the meat with her fork. It didn't look like anything she had tried before. Her stomach didn't seem to mind too much, since she was very hungry, so she nibbled it a bit.

"Venison." Viola answered, eating some of her own. She let out a pleased moan as she did, "It tastes wonderful!"

"That's… Deer, right?" Ellen asked, looking over to the two of them.

"Sure is," Mike answered, piling some on his own plate, and then he sat back down on the log he pulled over. He ate some, and similar to Viola, he too seemed very pleased with the taste.

"You hunted this?" Ellen asked, unable to mask her fascination.

"Yep!" Viola stated proudly, "Do you like it? It's one I got myself!"

Ellen nodded, taking a bite, "It's good." She took another bite, and nodded, it was very good. It was probably the best meal she had eaten in... months? Years? she didn't know, but it was the first meal she had where she didn't feel like she would suffocate due to the atmosphere with her dad and mom sitting nearby, and she wasn't sick in bed eating it either.

"I wasn't sure how you liked your meat cooked, so I just made it medium." Mike explained as he watched her continue to eat her meal, "I'm glad you like it." Ellen would occasionally feed some to her cat, and she accepted another water bottle from Viola, and the trio just ate silently for the most part. Again, Ellen felt at peace, she knew now that she could trust these two. It was almost a foreign concept to her, but she was excited to experience it again in her life, especially with these two, since they have treated her so well. As she ate, she knew that Mike was probably going to ask her questions, and she decided then and there that she would be as honest as she could with him.

After eating, the trio sat around the fire place, as the sky turned a dark shade of orange, and Mike set up a few bug repellent devices around the area. After that, he went back and sat down on the log he had pulled over for himself and took a seat. "Ellen…" He spoke up, "I've been holding it off for a little while now, but I need to know why you were out in the woods all cut up like that."

Ellen nodded, and looked over to Viola, who gave her a smile. She felt comforted by that smile, so she let out a sigh and started to talk, "I ran away from home."

Mike didn't look too surprised, but Viola's eyes were wide, "Why would you do that?" She asked in her surprise. Ellen knew that she meant no harm with the question, so she again answered her as honestly as she could.

"I left because I learned that my parents had been poisoning me with pills they claimed would make me feel better." Now Mike looked surprised, and Viola looked even more surprised than before. She felt good inside to see how horror stricken Viola looked, and then she gave her a concerned look, it felt nice to know that others were genuinely concerned for her well being, and not just acting.

"That's a serious accusation." Mike muttered as her rubbed his chin, "Are you positive it's true?"

"I'm very positive." Ellen nodded, "I haven't been taking the medicine that they've been providing me for almost two weeks now, and I feel better now than I have in years! It started when I heard my mom and dad arguing, and I heard my mom saying something about the pills being poison, and then it all made sense to me… That is why I always threw up and got sick – it usually always happened after I took the pills."

"I see…" Mike muttered, shaking his head. She noticed he looked really angry, and again she felt pleased to see how genuine these two were. She couldn't help but think she made the right choice in trusting them.

"I had to get out of there, I _really _needed to escape." Ellen shook her head, looking angrily at the ground, "I didn't want to play the role of the 'sick girl' so they could get sympathy or whatever else they needed! I just wanted to live a normal life! This is the first time I have ever been outside in the woods! I've never even SEEN a river before, and I have never tried venison before. I want to go and explore the world, see all the things I missed! Please… I trust you two… I like you two since you took care of me without caring about my background - you fed me and helped me clean up. So please, don't betray my trust, please let me go, pretend you've never seen me, don't return me to those monsters!"

"Ellen…" Viola whispered her name, looking at her with so much compassion that Ellen knew it wasn't an act. She almost felt like she wanted to stay behind and protect her... Someone like her would definitely be taken advantage of. She didn't want that to happen to her, but she had to go...

Mike sighed, "If what you say is true, then I have absolutely no intention of taking you back to your family, with that being said however, I won't let you go." Ellen felt like she had been stabbed, had she trusted these people too willingly? "A little girl like you would get hopelessly lost in these woods, you're lucky we found you. For now, you'll be staying with Viola and me, and then once we're out of here, I'll see if I can be your guardian, assuming what you said is true."

"Wait… You two don't mind if I stay with you?" She asked, her eyes widening.

"Not at all," Mike answered, giving her a smile, "In fact, I insist on it. I think Viola has a liking to you anyway, and she wouldn't talk to me if I didn't offer it anyway." He started chuckling.

"You're really fun to be with!" Viola gave her a very happy smile, "We can have a lot of fun together!"

She hadn't even considered the idea of staying with them. She thought that they would insist on taking her back to her family, and not believe her. However, it seemed that not only did Mike actually believe her, but he was willing to take her in! This was perfect, she'd get her wish to protect Viola, and she wouldn't go back to the monsters that claimed to be her parents. "W – When I'm of age, you'll let me go exploring the world, right?" Maybe she could convince Viola to go with her... That would be a lot of fun.

Mike nodded, "Of course. Until then, I'll just be your guardian."

This could potentially work out for her. Maybe she could actually trust people after all. "That sounds really good, actually." Ellen allowed a very wide smile to grace her face for the first time that day, "Thank you."

"Then we can be friends!" Viola gushed, "It'll be like a sleepover that never ends!" She actually jumped out of her chair and ran around the fire to wrap her arms around her. Ellen was surprised at first, and she felt her face heating up, as well as her heart thumping loudly.

"Friends…?" Ellen mumbled. She had never had one before, and now this girl her own age was willingly claiming that they could be friends. She smiled again, feeling tears stinging her eyes. Yes… This was all right with her; she smiled to Viola, "I'd love to be your friend!" She wrapped her arms around the girl, and happily laughed the entire time. This seemed too good to be true, but... This was real! The resulting smile that Viola gave her let Ellen know that she made the right decision in accepting her as a friend, and she just continued to hug her the entire while.

Mike chuckled at the interaction between them, and then reached into the bag behind him for a box of graham crackers, followed by some chocolate, and some marshmallows, "You two up for smores?" He asked, laughing as Viola's head snapped up.

Viola let out a cheer, "Yeah!"

"What's a smore?" Ellen asked, looking at the assorted supplies that Mike had pulled out, as she and Viola parted and the other girl went back to her own seat. Viola then looked at her in surprise.

"It's only the best thing EVER!" Viola exclaimed, and she started to explain it to Ellen. Ellen smiled and nodded along, her eyes widening at the mention of chocolate and marshmallows - together! She had never even eaten marshmallows before, and she rarely had chocolate, so she really looked forward to the treat!

How many other foods were there that she had never even heard of? What other sights could she see? The possibilities, it seemed, were endless, and Ellen looked forward to seeing them all with her new friend. What would have happened if she never found out about the pills? If she decided that no one was worth trusting in anymore? What would have happened if she never gained a friend? Would she really have turned out like her father as her dream suggested? The thoughts seriously frightened her, and she decided not to worry about it at all. She just wanted to enjoy her time with her new, first, and best friend, and her guardian.

Life couldn't be better.

XxXxXxX

Notes:

This is just a little something I cooked up while I was bored at work for two hours with nothing else to do. This story uses the same exact backstory for Ellen as my other Witch's House story, but the main difference is that Ellen learns about the poisoned pills, and on her escape attempt, she actually manages to get away instead of getting caught (And she also brought her cat this time around).

This was inspired by a line from 'My Discovery', where Viola laments the fact that she didn't meet Ellen before she turned irredeemably evil. In this story, Ellen is right on the edge of becoming the unlikable and horrible person she is in The Witch's House, but thankfully she is guided away from this edge by the timely rescue of Viola and her father.

I might continue this, but for now I'm just listing it as complete.

Thank you for reading!

CHAPTER REVISED: 6/27/2013 - Added in a lot more detail, combined a lot of sentences, made a few new scenes, and added in a bit of one-sided yuri (can be viewed as friendship if you want) subtext. This chapter had 3.2k additional words added to it, almost doubling the size of the chapter!

If I do continue this, there's a high chance of Ellen/Viola yuri, so I'll be sure to put that in the description if it does continue.


	2. Love Again

**This chapter contains yuri - I apologize to everyone who isn't into that, and I promise that from now on I will list whether a story will have yuri or not before I write the second chapter!**

Love Again

"This is where you'll be living from now one," Mike waved his hand out in front of him at the house they stopped at, and Ellen looked at it with her mouth opened in awe. Mike noticed her expression, let out a light chuckle, and gave her a few seconds to soak it in.

The house was small – way smaller than she even thought a house could be. It was smaller than even the 'normal' houses she had seen in movies. However, it wasn't just that, there were other houses beside this one to the left and right, and not only were they small, but they were all different shapes and sizes! It was such a bizarre and unique sight that she had a hard time taking it in. Did people really live this close together? She only now trusted Viola and her father, but did living in a place like this imply that you not only had to trust your own family, but those around you as well?

In addition to her thoughts of trust however, she was looking at the house itself. It was two stories tall and they had pulled in the driveway, and she looked at the yard surrounding the building – there was even a little brickwork with flowers in it as well as a tree growing that was at least as tall as Mike was. There was a cement path leading up to the front door, and the exterior of the house seemed to be made out of wood, instead of the old brickwork her house was made out of.

She felt a hand settle on his shoulder, and she immediately jumped, smacking the hand away and glaring behind her to see who touched her. Instead, she saw Mike standing there looking surprised, and she felt very ashamed of herself. She looked down to the ground to avoid his gaze of what would surely be disappointment and she whispered, "I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize for, Ellen. I was just wondering if you wanted to go in now." He replied, and Ellen risked a glance up at him. She didn't see any signs of disappointment, but instead she detected faint signs of anger, but… she didn't think it was directed at her, especially when he smiled at her and offered his hand.

She hesitantly reached out, taking hold of his hand, and the two walked back towards the car, much to Ellen's surprise. She looked into the car, and saw that Viola – her best friend – was sitting in the driver's seat, looking very excited. She didn't know what the two were planning, but she was interested to see where this would go, so she stayed silent as she observed the two of them.

Viola was dressed similar to her, though it did make sense, since she was also wearing Viola's clothes, since her own were ruined. Viola was wearing a pair jeans, and a white shirt, her blonde hair was tied back into a small ponytail. Ellen meanwhile was wearing jeans and a red shirt instead, though she did fidget a bit uncomfortably, since the jeans were a bit small, and the shirt was a little tight – she was a bit taller than Viola, so that explained that, and he long purple hair was combed neatly behind her.

"Hey, Viola, ready to drive into the garage?" Mike asked as he leaned onto the car door, where the window was all the way down so he could speak to his daughter.

"Yeah!" Viola nodded rapidly. "Can Ellen come in too?" Ellen noticed that Viola was looking at her now, and she returned the smile with one of her own. She felt very happy to know that Viola was doing her best to include her in on everything she did.

Mike chuckled, "I don't see why not." He opened the door, allowing Ellen entry, and the girl politely smiled to Mike before entering the passenger seat of the vehicle. "Alright Viola, you remember everything I taught you?"

"Yeah, yeah, I do!" Viola nodded, "I do… This first, right?" She pressed her foot on the brakes, and then reached forward to pull on a long stick, pulling it from the 'P' to the 'D' letters on the bottom. Ellen at least knew that those referred to Park and Drive respectively.

"That's right," Mike nodded, taking a few step away from the car, "Now open the garage, and take her in nice and easy." Ellen saw the confidence in the man's face, and she couldn't help but feel jealous – Viola had such a supportive dad her entire life, something she always wanted to experience… Hopefully Mike would give even a fraction of that attention to her to make up for her worthless life thus far. That would make her very happy.

Viola slowly lifted her foot off the brakes, and very gently applied a little pressure to the gas pedal, and despite the fact that Ellen was in the car for nearly three hours earlier as they drove back from the hunting trip they found her on, she found herself putting on her seatbelt and gripping the side of the seat tightly. Without Mike driving, and knowing that Viola was a novice at this, being in the vehicle now felt very thrilling, even if the distance driven was only a handful of yards. Slowly the car pulled into the garage, and soon it stopped. Viola put the car into park again, and took out the keys.

Viola grinned towards her, and Ellen felt compelled to say something, "Good work." She managed to let out, hoping that it was sufficient enough praise for the girl. Viola giggled, and seemed to be embarrassed.

"Thank you, Ellen." She replied, still blushing a bit from her friend's praise, "Would you like to try it next time?"

"Next time?" Ellen muttered, and it hit her then – she was staying with them until she was old enough to leave, which would most likely be until she was eighteen… That was seven years. She had seven years to be with Viola and her father. She thought the three days she had been with them while hunting was akin to heaven, so seven years was like a blessing from God himself! Ellen reached up to her face to wipe away the tears – of course she knew that, but she never really thought about the implications, so she looked over to Viola and nodded, "I'd like that!"

"Awesome!" Viola exclaimed, and she hopped out of the car, and Ellen could see from her rearview mirror that Viola was confronting her father, and she noticed how happy her dad looked, and he gave her a small hug. She couldn't hear them, but she again felt jealous. She let out a sigh, and then felt weight hit her lap as her pet cat jumped on top of her.

"I didn't forget about you." Ellen giggled, petting her cat's head, "Are you ready to go see them?"

Of course the cat didn't say anything in reply, so she took hold of Mr. Whiskers – her oh so originally named cat – and opened the door to the car, walking over to Viola and Mike. As she walked, she noticed that the garage had quite a lot of things hanging on the walls – there were all sorts of tools hanging, some of them looking very dangerous, and in the corner there was a bike! She always wanted to try riding one; maybe Viola would help her with that? She stopped her observation however as she reached Mike and Viola.

"I need to call CPS," Mike spoke up once Ellen was within earshot range, "Ellen, I promise you that I'll do everything I can to help you, but I'll need you to give me information, is that all right?" Ellen nodded, knowing that CPS meant Child Protection Services. With them involved, things might work out well. If they found the false pills, and were able to convict her father for attempting to kill her, that would be even better. She kept such best case scenarios left in her head however. She didn't dare hope for their outcome, she knew that her dad was smarter than that; he wouldn't get caught so easily. "Then come with me." Mike looked like he was about to reach forward and pat her shoulder, but he hesitated, and shook his head. Instead he smiled at her and began to walk towards the door inside of the garage.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Viola asked, being quite serious for once. She wasn't smiling as she looked at Ellen, since she knew how serious the situation was, especially if CPS was involved in it.

"I'd really appreciate it if you did." Ellen muttered. Viola was her friend, and though she only knew her for a few days, she already felt very comfortable when she was around.

"Then I'll come with you!" Viola grinned, and keeping in mind the cat that Ellen was holding, Viola gave her a quick hug. In the few seconds that it lasted, Ellen felt her face burning with embarrassment, and her heart thumped loudly. She was so glad to have run into Viola of all people – Viola really cared about her well-being, and that made her so happy.

The two walked into the house shortly after, and Ellen again found herself looking around. Her house, while massive, was always very dark inside, even with the lights on, she found it hard to see and very oppressive. This house on the other hand was very well lit, to the point that Mike just allowed the natural sunlight to light up the house instead of flipping any light switches. The kitchen was to the left when they entered the house from the garage, so they turned into there, were Mike immediately made a beeline to the phone on the wall. He picked it up, dialed a number, and waited.

"Hello, yes…" Mike muttered into the phone, "yes… I have a case here…" He continued talking though a lot of it was muffled. Ellen could at least make out some of the dialogue, and she knew that Mike was explaining things to the CPS exactly as she told him. In the meantime, she felt Viola grab her hand and she allowed the girl to lead her to the table, where she sat down on the chair right next to Viola. The table was pretty big for such a small family, easily able to seat six people.

"I feel kind of sick." Ellen muttered, feeling an unsettling feeling in her stomach. She grimaced, and dropped her pet cat as she placed a hand out her stomach, "What is wrong with me?" It wasn't as bad as the poison, but it still wasn't pleasant in the least bit.

"Are you worried?" Viola asked, casting her a concerned look, "Do you need to lie down?"

"Why would I be worried?" Ellen muttered harshly, but she immediately regretted it when Viola gave her a hurt expression in return, "I'm sorry…"

"It's ok." Viola muttered a bit distantly, looking aside and out the screen doors of the kitchen, which Ellen could see lead out to the porch with lawn chairs and such on it. However, Ellen found herself focusing on Viola – she was hurt by what she said! She couldn't have that! She didn't want Viola to abandon her.

"Viola…" Ellen mumbled, surprisingly herself with how desperate she sounded, "I'm so sorry… I think you're right, I'm worried. I'm just really scared…" She couldn't believe she admitted even that much, but she desperately wanted Viola to not hate her.

"It's all right," Viola repeated, though she did look back and seem a bit happier, since she understood fully what she was going through now. Ellen felt relief flood through her, and she let out a content sigh, allowing her head to rest against the table, and she briefly closed her eyes.

"Ellen," Mike spoke up a few minutes later, "Are you willing to talk to them, or do you want me to do it?" Ellen looked up and noticed that Mike had his hand covering the mike on the phone so the opposite end wouldn't hear his question, and she was glad he cared so much.

She simply nodded, "I'm willing to talk." She got off of the chair, Viola giving her once last wish for good luck, and soon she was at the phone, taking hold of it from Mike's hands. She felt herself shaking as she brought it up to her ear, and she let out, "Hello?"

"Hello, Ellen, we're just going to ask you some questions, are you all right with that?" The voice at the end of the phone was kind, though it did little ease Ellen's fears.

"That's fine." Ellen answered, looking over to Viola, who gave her a nod. She still felt sick to her stomach, but she let out a few breaths and stopped her shaking.

"How old are you?" Was their first question.

"I'm eleven, but I'll be twelve in two months, on September 28th." She answered politely.

"Are there any injuries on your body that your parents gave you?"

Ellen grimaced – if there were, she knew that the CPS would act immediately, "No. There's nothing physical. They were poisoning me, so there's no physical signs of abuse."

"Is your family isolated?"

"Yes, very." Especially if she compared it to this neighborhood she was in, "Their address is…" She gave the address, feeling absolutely no remorse for giving away their location. In fact, she hoped CPS would send the police there to arrest those monsters, though she knew it was unlikely.

"Are you handicapped in any way?" The voice asked kindly, and Ellen's eyes widened. Of course! She knew how to get this to become a high priority case!

"Not anymore," She muttered, knowing that saying that must have peaked their interest, "I used to be bed ridden, but now I'm walking around just fine. There was a doctor who visited my house monthly, and would prescribe medicine for me, his name was Dr. Thomson, have you heard of him?" they confirmed that they did, and Ellen's smile widen, "He'll tell you then that I was bedridden – have him come here! He'll tell you!"

"All right," The voice on the phone replied, "Final question – if we don't find anything, would you be willing to return to your parents' house?"

"No!" She screamed loudly into the phone, far more louder than she actually intended, "I'll never go back! You'd have to kill me before I go back there!" She growled that out, and then noticed how surprised Mike seemed to be out of the corner of her eye. She calmed herself down, trying not to let her hatred and anger consume her, and she took a few deep breaths.

"Thank you for answering our questions; can you please put Mike back on the phone?" Ellen nodded, despite the fact that they couldn't have possibly seen it, and she handed the phone back to Mike, who continued to talk to them. She didn't know if she answered the questions correctly, but she felt even worse than before – was there actually a chance that she might be returned to those monsters? If they got their hands on her now, there is no way she'd ever be able to escape… The thought made her shiver, and she felt tears stinging the corners of her eyes… She didn't want to go back. She took a few steps back towards the table, deep in her thoughts.

"It's ok…" Viola's voice whispered kindly, and Ellen felt her friend's arms wrapping around her. She usually hated feeling constricted, but in this case… Being this close with Viola, especially after that call made her good and… safe. She began to shake, and despite her mind berating herself for being so weak, she began to cry, and she reached up and wrapped her hands around Viola as she cried into the girl's shoulder. Viola didn't say anything else, she only held her, allowing her to get her pent up emotions out.

She didn't know how long she held onto Viola for, but finally she stopped wailing, and was just sniffling, blinking her eyes rapidly to try and get rid of the final few tears. That felt very good, to just cry and let it all out, she had never done that before. Usually she cried in her bed after she had a particularly bad day, but to actually hold someone you care about, and to feel safe and warm… that was something she liked. She finally lifted her head from Viola's chest, and looked at her face, "I'm sorry about that…" She sheepishly muttered.

"It's all right, it seemed like you really needed a hug." Viola smiled, reaching forward and rubbing away a few stray tears going down Ellen's face, "What do you want to do now?"

Ellen looked around the kitchen, and slowly a frown crossed her face, "Where's your dad?"

"Daddy's in his room right now. He said he was tired and going to rest, and he told me to take care of you in the meantime." She grinned as she relayed that news.

Ellen blushed, had she really missed Mike telling her all of that when she was crying? She shook the thought aside for now, and looked around, "What do you want to do?"

"I asked you first," Viola replied teasingly, finally letting go. Ellen frowned, missing the warmth of the other girl's body immediately, but she didn't say anything, and she instead followed Viola as she led her outside the screen doors into the backyard. The sun was still high in the sky, since it was just barely pass two, and Ellen took a minute to bask in the warmth of the sun, "Since you asked me, I wanted to go outside."

While Ellen really wanted to get details out of Mike, she decided that for now, she would do what Viola wanted to do, and she followed the girl to sit down on the plastic chairs out on the wooden porch. The backyard itself wasn't too large, the yard was fenced off from the neighbors land, and there was a large tree settled in the middle. Along the house was yet another flowerbed, and Ellen found herself staring at the flowers for a bit too long, causing Viola to notice where she was looking.

"Do you like them?" Viola asked, "I planted them there."

"I like them a lot," Ellen muttered, still looking over at them from where she sat on the chair, "Do you mind if I look at them closer?"

"I don't mind at all!" Viola chuckled, standing from her own chair, and leading Ellen over to check out the growing flowers.

"They're very pretty…" Ellen muttered, reaching forward and rubbing her fingers against the petals, "I've never really seen flowers like these ones."

"Those are lilies." Viola explained, reaching forward to gently touch one as well, "They're my favorite flower, when I was little, my mom and I would always plant these all around the house." She giggled, "Daddy would come home from work and see us out in the yard, covered in dirt, and then he'd come help us plant the rest of them."

"Where's your mom now?" Ellen asked. She did wonder where the woman was, she was interested to meet her, since Viola and Mike both seemed like nice people.

"She passed away six years ago," Viola muttered, a sad smile on her face, "Sometimes I still get sad about it, but daddy says that she wouldn't want that, so when I think of her, I'm supposed to think about all the happy times I had with her." She giggled, though Ellen could see that her friend's eyes were getting a bit moist.

"Well…" she had to think of a different subject, "I can relate to that, I guess."

"Really?" Viola asked in surprise, looking up from the flower.

"My mom…" She frowned, and stopped touching the lily and she gripped her hand into a tight fist, "I remember a time when my mom loved me – she would take me out to do things, she would comb my hair, tell me how much she loved me…" She paused as she felt herself shaking and her eyes getting wet– she didn't realize that recounting all of this would make her so upset, but she pressed on, "But she stopped doing all of that when she bought me my pet cat."

"Why?" Viola asked quietly, and she reached over to place her hand on Ellen's shaking hand. Ellen noticed the touch, and she grabbed her hand, holding it tight. She could trust Viola – it was ok if Viola saw her vulnerable. She let out a small breath, and continued.

"Because of my dad… he did something that made her never pay attention to me again. I told you that they were poisoning me, but that wasn't the only reason I left, it was simply the last straw. I left because neither of them loved me – I would wake up every morning, trying to get their attention, trying to get them to love me like I heard in the stories my mom used to tell me, and I would cry myself to sleep every night when they ignored me the entire day."

"Ellen…" Viola muttered her name, feeling Ellen's grip get even tighter.

"I was dumb. I was a really dumb kid – I can't believe I even bothered trying. I should have known after the first try that it was a worthless effort! But I kept trying over and over, hoping that one day they would finally show any affection towards me, hoping that one day they would turn around and acknowledge my existence!" She felt tears falling from her eyes again, and she furiously wiped her face with her free hand, her other gripping Viola's as hard as it could possibly hold it, "I just wanted to be loved… That's all... Is that so much to ask from your parents?"

Ellen was surprised when she heard sniffling – not from herself, but from Viola. She turned her head and saw that her friend was genuinely crying, wiping her eyes, and sniffling every few seconds. Ellen felt even worse than before – she didn't mean to make her cry! Viola surprised her again when she practically pounced onto her and wrapped her hands tightly around her. Ellen was confused, but she again felt warm and secure. In her own way, Viola was telling her that she would give her as much love as she could possibly give, love that parents never gave her. Again she found her vision clouded by tears, and Ellen wrapped her arms around Viola once more, letting all the pain go as she cried.

"I'm sorry for crying," Viola muttered a few minutes later, "But that was just so sad… I've always had a loving dad, and I was sad when mom passed away, but you've had it so much worse than me. You must have thought I was very selfish to be talking about my mom like that when your life has been so much worse than mine. I'm so sorry."

Ellen couldn't believe it – Viola was apologizing?! "You don't need to say sorry," Ellen replied, "Just because what happened to me is worse than what happened to you, doesn't mean that you can't be sad about it anymore." She explained, "I'm sorry for making you cry."

Viola chuckled, wiping her eyes again, "Well… What do you want to do now…?" She laughed awkwardly, unsure of what to do now.

Ellen parted from Viola, again feeling cold, and she stood up from her knees, "I just want to relax for a while. I've cried more today than I have… In years." She shook her head, "Do you mind if I go lay down now?"

"That's fine," Viola answered, "I always get tired after crying too."

Ellen nodded, feeling mentally exhausted, and she followed Viola back into the kitchen. She noticed her cat meowing at her, and she made a mental note to make sure that Mike and Viola knew that they'd need to buy cat food and kitty litter from now on. In the meantime, she followed Viola out of the kitchen into what appeared to be a dining room – this table had a chandelier above it, and the table was even larger than the one in the kitchen, with ten chairs surrounding it. Ellen paid little attention to it however, because she noticed that there was a piano nearby, and she stopped in front of it.

"Do you want to play it?" Viola asked, walking back to Ellen when she noticed that the girl had stopped to stand in front of the piano.

"I'm no good," Ellen muttered, "Can you play it?"

"Someone comes every Tuesday and Thursday to give me lessons!" Viola nodded enthusiastically, "Do you want to hear me play a song?"

On one hand, Ellen was tired and just wanted to rest, on the other… She didn't want to hurt Viola's feelings, so she finally nodded her head, "Sure. How long have you been playing for?"

"Oh… For about three years now, I think?" Viola muttered, going over to the piano and sitting down on the seat in front of it, "Do you have any requests?"

"I'm sorry; I don't know any piano music." Ellen replied, "Just play whatever you want to play."

"Well, I've just learned Amazing Grace, so I'll play that, I know the words too! So if you don't mind, I'll sing it as I play! It's always a lot of fun to do that, but it's hard." She mumbled, lifting up the wooden panel hiding the keys. She then pressed down on a few keys, and then did an entire scale to make sure it sounded ok. Ellen meanwhile had taken a seat on a nearby chair that had a bookshelf beside it. On the other side of the chair was another chair with a lamp beside that.

"Amazing Grace?" Ellen muttered, "That sounds familiar."

"It should," Viola chuckled, "It's a very famous Christian hymn." She then looked nervous, "Are you ready?"

"I am," Ellen confirmed, leaning back to watch Viola play. Viola pressed the first few keys, and shortly after, she began to sing the lyrics to the song. At first her voice was a bit shaky, but she gained confidence as she got more and more absorbed into the song, and soon, she seemed to be completely oblivious to her surroundings, and she was in her own little world as she played.

"Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound. That saved a wretch, like me. I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now, I see…" She continued on, but Ellen was fixated on those lines. She knew she lacked the proper context, but she couldn't help but identify with it. She was becoming like her father – lost, if you will – and then she was saved. She was blinded to that face, but Viola had helped her see through it. She felt foolish yet again – she _knew_ that that wasn't the proper context, but it resonated so deeply with her, that she found herself yet again beginning to tear up.

When Viola finally ended the song, she was startled to hear clapping coming from behind her, and she looked over to see Ellen was the one cheering. She blinked owlishly a few times, before she finally got up from the seat, and mocked a deep bow.

"That was amazing!" Ellen gushed, "You play the piano so well, and your singing voice is great!" It was a bit uncharacteristic for her to praise this much, perhaps, but she didn't care. Viola even seemed to be a bit surprised by the amount of praise, and she blushed bright red.

"Thank you." She muttered, clearly not expecting such praise from Ellen.

Ellen smiled, and she went to say something, but she quickly yawned. She frowned slightly as she stopped, and noticed that she had also caused Viola to yawn as well, "I'm sorry," Ellen muttered, "I'm just tired still."

"You're right, I'm sorry, we shouldn't have played piano." Viola chuckled, "Come on."

"Wait…" Ellen stopped her from going forward, "Would you mind playing the piano for me some more? Not now, but later? I loved listening to it… I know it's selfish, but… I really liked it. I'm sorry if that's asking too much."

"Stop apologizing," Viola giggled, "And why would I be mad at you anyway? You really liked my music that much?" She again looked embarrassed, "Of course I'll play for you! For now, let's just get you to bed so you can rest for a bit." Ellen had no objections to that, and was very glad to hear that Viola was willing to play again later, so she began to follow her again. A little beyond the piano was a staircase leading to the second floor of the house, so Ellen followed Viola up there. Though it was still early in the afternoon, they were quite tired as they went down the hall once they reached the top of the stairs, and entered the door at the very end, which led into Viola's room.

"This is my room!" Viola grinned at Ellen, "It's a little messy, I'm sorry about that!"

"You need to stop apologizing too," Ellen muttered, "How about we promise to not apologize to each other anymore." Ellen saw someone do this before – she lifted up her hand with the pinky out. Fortunately, Viola seemed to know exactly what it was, and she lifted her own hand up and gripped Ellen's pinky with her own.

"Pinky promise!" Viola exclaimed, letting go and grinning widely at her, which Ellen found herself returning. She finally looked around the room. It was a bit small – there was a bed tucked neatly into one corner, though the sheets were messed up and undone. Beside the bed was a small nightstand that had a lamp on it, and across from the bed was a dresser – atop of it was piles and piles of papers and other such things, it wasn't even possible to see the wooden surface! Beside the dresser was a desk that again was covered, with only a small spot cleared off where she could presumably do assignments and such. The floor was thankfully mostly clear, except for a few clothes thrown about here and there. Honestly, Ellen expected Viola to be a lot neater, so it was a surprise to see her room so messy. Other than that, there were two windows providing in plenty of natural sunlight so they could see.

"So… Should I go get a sleeping bag or something?" Ellen asked, unsure of where she would sleep. She looked over to Viola, and saw that the girl was shaking her head.

"No, you can sleep in my bed." Viola began to push Ellen towards the bed, much to her surprise.

"I can't do that," Ellen exclaimed, "It's yours! I don't want to impose on you!" It was true, she had no desire to make Viola hate her and not want anything to do with her. She was her friend, and she didn't want Viola to think that she was taking advantage of her kindness.

"It's fine," Viola exclaimed, "Though, we should probably change into something more comfortable," She muttered as an afterthought, "Sleeping in jeans is not comfortable at all." She went to her dresser and opened it up, and she pulled out some blue pajamas, which she tossed over to Ellen, and then she pulled out some purple ones, which she kept for herself. Like she did by the river, Viola began to change without any regards to Ellen, causing the girl to blush and turn her back.

"You need more modesty!" Ellen exclaimed, still blushing as she looked down at the pajamas in her hands.

"It's fine, we're both girls." Viola waved off, taking off her pants.

Ellen sighed, and finally decided to change as well. She undid her pant buttons, and slid them down her legs, before replacing them with the pajama pants. She let out a satisfied sigh as she felt the fabric against her skin, since it was so much softer. Next she threw off her shirt and replaced it with her pajama shirt. With that done, she turned around and saw that Viola had finished too.

"Well, I'll go get a sleeping bag, you just stay in the bed." Viola replied, heading towards the door.

"No! Wait!" Ellen cried. She reached forward, and gripped her friend's arm, causing Viola to look back at her questioningly. Ellen didn't even know why she was so adamant on having her stay, but she felt like she was near tears, "Don't go… Don't leave me."

"I'm not leaving you," Viola replied, and she turned around to face Ellen, "I'll be right back, I promise." She smiled at Ellen, trying to make her feel better, but it didn't work.

Ellen stubbornly shook her head, and she knew that she was acting like a spoiled child, but she felt so vulnerable and scared, she didn't even understand why, "Stay with me…" What if all of this was a dream? What if she was going to wake up back in the hell of her old life? She couldn't handle that – she knew it was irrational, but if Viola left her, what if she simply disappeared?

"Ellen…" Viola muttered, hugging Ellen, "What did those awful people do to you…?"

Ellen just shook her head and gripped Viola as tightly as she could, and she felt safe and secure yet again – two feelings she never wanted to let go of. She found herself shaking, and she whispered, "Please, just stay with me… I don't want you to leave me."

Viola nodded, "Ok. I won't leave you Ellen; I promise I'll never leave you." She rubbed Ellen's back soothingly, and led the two of them to the bed, where she gently lay Ellen down first, before she got in right beside her. She smiled as Ellen grabbed onto her tightly, as if she needed the physical contact, and Ellen gripped her clothes tightly as she hugged her closer.

"I know I'm acting dumb," Ellen muttered, "But… I just want to hold you."

"That's fine," Viola answered, rubbing the back of Ellen's head soothingly, rubbing her hand through her friend's purple hair.

"I'm so scared… What if this is just a fevered dream, and I'm about to die? What if I never really did find you and this is all just my imagination, trying to make me feel better?" She shook at the mere thought, closing her eyes tightly as she felt the sting of tears yet again. She was so tired of crying, but it just never seemed to stop.

Viola shook her head, "My daddy says that you can't feel pain in dreams, and you were really badly cut up when we found you. If you were dreaming those wouldn't have hurt at all." She could feel Ellen beginning to grow less tense.

"What if CPS can't find anything, and I'm forced to go back to live with my…" She shook her head, "Those monsters?" She refused to acknowledge them as her parents, since they refused to acknowledge her as their daughter.

"Then we can run away together," Viola suggested, "I know how to survive out in the wild for a long time. We can go somewhere and get a job, earn enough money and go to Europe or something."

Ellen knew that what Viola said was impossible, but she couldn't help but feel better anyway. She always deemed herself as a strong individual, and she hated the fact that being around Viola and Mike was making her appear weak – but Viola had proven to her time and time again today that she wasn't weak, she was just emotionally vulnerable. Getting out all of her pent up sadness and aggression did wonders, and she felt stronger now than she ever had before.

"Plus…" Viola spoke up again, "You mentioned that doctor, so there's no way there won't be evidence. That isn't even mentioning the fact that you don't want to go back. I know that is a huge factor in determining what to do with a child."

Ellen nodded, though she felt her heart beating against her chest. "Viola…" She whispered.

"Yes?" Viola looked Ellen in the eyes, "What is it?"

"Thank you…" She mumbled, leaning forward and kissing the girl. She didn't know if it was love, appreciation, desperation, or a combination of all three, but she felt she needed to do that. She might be a vulnerable girl who would latch onto the first person who showed any sign of caring for her, but she was glad that that person was Viola.

Viola looked very surprise, and Ellen could see that the girl was blushing quite heavily. Her hands stopped rubbing through Ellen's purple hair, and she seemed completely unsure of what to do. Finally she shook her head, and resumed playing with Ellen's hair, and she let out, "Um…"

"I'm sorry for doing that," Ellen mumbled, "I just… Felt like doing it…"

"Oh, ok…" Viola muttered, "Next time give me a bit of warning, ok? So I can prepare for it a bit more." She giggled at the shocked expression that Ellen had on her face.

"You're not mad?" Ellen asked, her eyes widening.

"No. You're very pretty, so I'm just surprised you'd do that with me is all." Viola explained, again smiling at how surprised Ellen was.

Ellen hugged Viola tightly to herself then, and pressed her head into the girl's chest as she again started to cry, "I'm so sorry for being like this… I'm just so happy!"

"Hey," Viola gently tapped her head, "Remember? We promised not to apologize anymore!"

Ellen giggled, "Right… I remember." She nodded, still pressing her head into Viola's chest as she felt fresh tears falling.

"Ellen, look up here." Viola asked. Ellen looked up to Viola's face, and her teary eyes widened as Viola returned the favor, planting a firm kiss on her lips. She opened and closed her mouth in shock for a few seconds after they parted, and Viola giggled at the expression. "There, now we're even."

Ellen started to laugh too, "I'll have to get you back for that some other time you know."

"I'll be ready for it when the time comes!" Viola claimed, though she was giggling too hard to make it seem all that convincing. With that, Ellen slowly drifted off to sleep, loving the gentle touch of Viola's hands as they played with her hair as occasionally brushed against her head. She loved the warmth and security she felt when she pressed her body against Viola's, and most of all, she loved the light kiss against her forehead as she drifted off to sleep, and she heard Viola quietly whisper to her.

"Sweet dreams, Ellen…"

She had no doubt that her dreams would be the best they had ever been in years.

XxXxXxX

Notes:

Sorry, I couldn't resist adding in yuri. Other than that, I really wanted to get across how emotional damaged Ellen was due to the abuse she went through over the years. So while the last chapter was about her stopping herself from becoming evil, this chapter was about confronting her past and accepting that what is done is done.

Going to still list this as complete, now it's just a two-shot. I'm doing this primarily because I don't have an outline for this story. This entire chapter came from my head (And googling about the CPS), so I have nothing other than these two chapters for this story.

Thank you for reading!


	3. First Day of School

First Day of School

In Viola's room, Ellen finished putting on her socks on Viola's bed, and stood up to take a look at herself in the mirror. Viola had called the clothing a 'sailor' suit, something Ellen honestly had no idea what it was until now. The seams of the suit were teal, as was the knee length skirt, and since it was still warm outside, they didn't need to wear the jacket and leg warmers, which Ellen was thankful for, since it would be encumbering to wear so much. Viola assisted her in combing her hair that morning, and made sure to even tie a red bow that prominently displayed from the top of her head. Ellen thought it looked a bit ridiculous, but it made Viola happy, so she supposed it was fine.

"Do you like it?" Viola asked, her eyes shined with barely contained amusement and excitement. This was going to be Ellen's first day of school after all, and she was clearly excited to take her there so she could show off the building.

Ellen pulled at her skirt uncertainly, and glanced up at Viola, who was wearing the same clothing. Mike had insisted that if she was going to stay with them, then she needed to go to school, which while she wasn't opposed to it, did mean that she had to wear this stupid uniform. She felt absolutely ridiculous, but she hid her displeasure from Viola, since they went through a lot of work to get her a uniform and sign her up for school. She finally let out a muffled sigh, and replied, "Well, it's interesting, at least."

Viola giggled at that response, "I suppose you don't like it then." She watched as Ellen opened her mouth to retort that, but Viola lifted her hand to stop it, "No, it's all right. You don't have to like it. It took me a while to get used to it too."

"Oh…" Ellen mumbled, "Well. I guess I don't like how I look. I want to wear my own clothes." She grumbled that out, and looked back at the dresser the two of them were now sharing. Since Ellen moved in about a month ago, she bought a lot of new clothes, and now she was being forced to wear this stupid outfit six days a week.

"I know what you mean," Viola replied, "But at least you don't have to pick out what to wear every morning this way." She shrugged non-committedly, "And if it's worth anything to you, I think you look really cute in that!"

Ellen felt her cheeks heat up at that, and she looked aside, trying to keep her golden eyes averted from the amused blue ones of her friend. She suddenly felt Viola's hand rest itself on her shoulder, and she looked back over to see Viola smiling at her. Unable to resist that, Ellen leaned her head over, and kissed her softly on the lips. It was a quick kiss – far too short for Ellen's liking – but it got her point across, "Thank you," Ellen muttered, glad that she had Viola by her side no matter what.

Viola shook her head, her own face turning a little red now, "What was that for?" She asked quietly, though she did have a good idea.

"Two reasons," Ellen lifted her hand with two fingers held up, "First you said I looked cute. Secondly, and more importantly, I did it because you were giving me that cute smile of yours." Ellen grinned when she saw Viola's face turn a dark scarlet.

"O – Oh, ok," Viola muttered, twirling her fingers as she looked down in embarrassment. She finally glanced up after a few seconds of trying to regain control of her blush, and she looked towards her door. She walked over to it, and checked to make sure it was locked, and when she was satisfied, she turned back around to Viola and grinned, "Well… We still have ten minutes before daddy wants us to come down, and since we can't let anyone at school know…" She let it hanging, but she had clearly said enough, since Ellen knew exactly what she was getting at.

Ellen's grin turned to a feral smile, "Are you trying to suggest something, Viola?" She teased. Ever since that day they kissed, the two had considered themselves a couple, even if they would undoubtedly be deemed too young by everyone around them. Both of them felt that they had a good grasp on what they were getting into, especially Ellen, who matured far beyond her years. They hid the relationship from Viola's father the entire time, unsure of whether he would approve of it or not.

Viola looked down to the floor again, and twirled her fingers, "Um…" She managed out. She finally let out an impatient sigh, and looked up, her eyes shining with determination, "Let's cuddle for a little bit, ok?"

"Hm…" Ellen hummed out; as the blonde haired girl took the remaining steps back over to her, and hugged her. Keeping a firm grasp around her, Ellen slowly led the two of them over to her bed, where they laid down side by side. Nothing too bad occurred beyond a few stray kisses here and there, unless if one were to consider Viola dozing off in Ellen's arms to be a bad thing. Ellen however, wasn't too against it, and simply hugged the blonde hair girl tighter to herself.

Unfortunately, their time together was short lived, and ten minutes pass by considerably fast, so Ellen was forced to wake Viola up, much to her displeasure. "I don't wanna…" Viola muttered as Ellen shook her, instead opting to grip Ellen tightly and bury her head into her chest, "Sleep…" Ellen rolled her eyes, and shook her again, finally waking up the blonde haired girl, who lifted her head and blinked a few times to clear her vision. "O – Oh!" She cried, sitting up, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep!"

"It's ok," Ellen remarked, sitting up beside her, "You look cute when you sleep, so it's fine with me." She grinned when she noticed Viola's blush, "Anyway, school is going to be starting soon, are you ready?"

Viola nodded, "Yeah, daddy can take us. I wonder if you're ready though, are you ok with getting up in front of the class and introducing yourself?" She glanced over to see that Ellen had frozen in place, "It's not bad," Viola assured her, "It's ok to be nervous, just tell them a bit about yourself, and then come sit next to me, ok?"

"Y – Yeah…" Ellen mumbled, though she still felt a ball of nervousness and even a bit of fear in her stomach. She steeled her resolve however, and took a deep breath, standing up when Viola did so beside her. "Let's get this over with…" She miserably murmured as the two left the room and walked down the stairs to the kitchen, where Mike was sitting at the table in his own work clothes. He had on a neat suit and a tie to go along with it, and his blonde hair was combed back neatly. Ellen grimaced at the sight of him, since he looked so much like one of her father's business partners she used to see often.

"Hello," He waved at the two girls as they arrived, "Have some breakfast and then we'll head out, I made some scrambled eggs and toast, so help yourself if you want any." He looked back down at the newspaper in his hand, but then quickly looked back up to Ellen, "Oh, and I fed your pet cat, darn thing eats better than I do." He mumbled, looking back down at the paper.

Ellen nodded, seeing that in the corner of the kitchen her cat was eating out of a bowl. With a smile, she followed Viola up to the counter and grabbed a plate, helping herself to some eggs and toast. She lived here for a month now, and she was beginning to feel less like an intruder, and more like a guest. It wasn't that Mike and Viola were mean to her – quite the opposite – it was just her mental state, since she felt like she was imposing so heavily in their lives. Shaking the thought away, she walked back to the table and sat down beside Mike, and Viola quickly followed, sitting down next to her.

"Are you excited for school?" He asked Ellen, setting aside his paper and reaching for a cup of coffee. He took a sip, and let out a pleased sigh, before setting it back down on the table. He looked back to Ellen, awaiting her response.

"I'm really nervous," She admitted, knowing that revealing her insecurities and weakness to these two wasn't a risk, and it in fact helped her think more logically about the situation, and it also helped her feel better, knowing that she had their support. "I've never been to a public school, and I'm still really scared to be around so many people… Can I trust them? They won't do anything bad, right?"

Mike frowned as he heard her worries, "You can trust the staff, Ellen. They are there to help you, and when I was registering you up for school, I made sure to request to not let them know about your situation, since I know you don't want to stand out." Ellen smiled gratefully at him, glad that he had the foresight to do such a thing, "That being said, I _did_ have to tell the principle, and she agreed to keep it a secret." He took another drink of coffee, "As for the children… I can't say, you'd have to ask Viola more about that."

"I'll introduce you to my friends!" Viola assured Ellen, "They are all good people, and a lot of fun to be around. I know they will like you right away!" The blonde haired girl's smile was radiant, but Ellen still had her doubts, and she cast her golden eyes back down at her eggs, simply picking at them, since she felt so sick to her stomach.

This was such a new experience for her, which usually wasn't enough to get her sick, but interacting with dozens, perhaps hundreds of people a day is what got to her. Simple talking to Viola and her dad the first day they found her had been tiring, but to meet so many new people, and to _not_ be suspicious of their motivations would take more self-control that she feared she had. She knew that she should at least give people the benefit of the doubt, but her bastard of a father made sure to stamp out any chance of her doing that. Still, for Viola, she would at least try to get along with her friends, even if she didn't trust them, because she knew that would make Viola happy, and in the end, the main thing she cared about was making sure that Viola was happy.

"Thank you," Ellen mumbled to Viola, hoping that it sounded sincere enough. Though she felt that it sounded a bit weak, Viola accepted it with a nod, perhaps because she knew how worried Ellen felt. Whatever the reason, Ellen was very glad that Viola didn't try to push the issue.

Minutes later, they finished their meal, and the two girls followed Viola's dad out to his car, and both girls sat in the back together, since the passenger seat up from could only hold one person. After making sure that both girls had their backpacks and didn't forget anything, the family was off, driving towards Viola's – and now Ellen's – school.

The entire drive was a nerve-wracking experience, and Ellen's heart thumped loudly against her chest, and she was surprised that neither Viola nor Mike could hear it. Her worries and insecurities stormed inside of her head, and she looked out the window, trying to keep calm, but it was doing no good. Her lips thinned in disappointment with herself as she felt the sting of tears at the corners of her eyes, and she wondered if she was actually going to cry because of how scared she was feeling. Suddenly, she felt warmth on her hand, and she looked over to see that Viola was holding her hand and giving her a warm smile. Ellen returned the smile, feeling a bit relieved, and quickly reached up and wiped her eyes, recomposing herself.

The drive was short, and soon her father pulled into the school parking lot, "You two have a good day, all right?" He told the two girls behind him, and he leaned back to look at them, "Just take the bus home, since I'll still be at work. Viola, take care of Ellen, all right?"

"Of course, daddy. I'll make sure nothing bad happens to her!" She gave him a mock salute, which he returned. She then returned the hand back to holding Ellen's hand, which provided Ellen with that small bit of safety and security she desired.

"And Ellen, it's not so bad, I know you're nervous now, but soon this will become second nature to you. If you have _any_ problems at all, or can't deal with it, go to the office and request to call me, and I'll pick you up and bring you back home, ok?" He told the girl sitting as ridged as a board.

Ellen blinked in surprise at what he told her. He would leave work just to take her back home? He would actually do that for her if it became an issue? She smiled at the man, her opinion of him yet again swelling up, and she gave him a curt nod, "Of course, sir." She then decided to add quickly, "And… Thank you. That actually makes me feel a lot better." It felt good to know that she wasn't trapped if things became too overwhelming. Hopefully with Viola at her side, things wouldn't reach that level, and honestly, with both of their reassurance, she felt more confident than she did moments before.

Viola let go of her hand and stepped out of the car at the entrance way of their school, though she quickly grabbed Ellen's hand again once they both were out. The building was massive, bigger than even the mansion that Ellen lived in, and she looked at it with an awed expression. While it sure didn't look as inviting as a house, it wasn't as scary as she had been imagining either. It was only three floors tall, which was a bit surprising to her, since Viola had been telling her how big it was. However, what it didn't have in height it certainly had in width, and it was by far the longest building she had ever laid eyes on.

As she and Viola began walking up the paved path to the entrance, walking by a flag stand with the school flag flying in the wind, Ellen began to notice the biggest reason she was so afraid and nervous to be coming here: There were children everywhere. She had been amazed to see Viola when she first met her, since she was the first girl her age she had seen, but now she was seeing so many other girls and boys her age that she could barely stop herself from staring in open shock. Not only that, but Viola had told her that they were the lowest grade in the school, and that there would be a lot of kids one and two years older than them as well, which Ellen again could pick out, since they were generally the taller children.

"There are so many people around here," Ellen commented, her mouth feeling a bit dry as her nervousness increased tenfold. She gripped Viola's hand tightly in her own, and conscious made sure to move her feet in rhythm with Viola's, trying to ignore everyone around them.

"Well, it is a school," Viola giggled, looking over at her nervous friend, "Are you feeling ok?" Ellen could see the concern and care in her eyes, but she didn't want to show weakness in front of this many people. When she was alone and with Viola or Mike, she was ok with showing her more vulnerable side, but now… No, she couldn't do it.

"I'm fine," She replied too quickly, since Viola clearly didn't believe her, "Ok… Maybe I'm a little nervous…" She whispered to her, "I just don't feel comfortable in crowds." She was being completely honest, "They bring up bad memories…"

"Oh…" Viola mumbled, clearly knowing what Ellen was talking about now. She could remember the nights they stayed up and Ellen would tell her what her awful parents did to her. No wonder she wasn't fond of being around too many people, she really ought to have thought of that. "I'm sorry, I didn't think of that… I'm right here though, so don't be nervous, ok?"

Ellen appreciated the support, but it did little to ease her nerves. "Thank you," she decided to say, since that would at least make Viola feel a bit better. It did seem to do the trick, since Viola gave her a bright smile that she loved so much, and she tried to return it as enthusiastically as she could.

"Hey Viola!" A girl walked over to them before they ever entered the building, and Ellen stiffened as she watched the girl coming over towards them. She had black hair that reached her shoulders, and her eyes were brown – a very common combination, and one that Ellen didn't particularly care for. She gritted her teeth behind her lips as the girl hugged Viola, causing Viola to let go of her hand.

"Hello, it's nice to see you!" Viola returned the hug, a bit_ too_ affectionately for Ellen's liking, before they finally parted, smiling at one another.

"I missed you all weekend!" The girl complained, reaching up and moving some stray strands of black hair out of her eyes, "I invited you to a sleepover, and you didn't come! We were all wondering where you were!"

"I told you, I had things I needed to do," Viola reminded the girl, crossing her arms and looking over to Ellen, "By the way, I need to introduce you two!" She grabbed Ellen's hand again, "This is Ellen, she is staying at my house, and she is the girl I was telling you about!"

"Ohhh!" The girl let out an awed sound as she walked over to Ellen and began to circle her, much like a shark, Ellen couldn't help but humorlessly think. "You weren't lying when you said she had purple hair! That is so weird! And her eyes really are gold!" She looked straight into Ellen's eyes, making her feeling very uncomfortable. The girl was a few inches shorter than her, but that was little consolation, since Ellen wanted to bolt.

"And you are…?" Ellen spoke up, her tone a bit harsh as her golden eyes narrowed at the girl who had yet to introduce herself. Why was she being so rude and invading her personal space? It was very uncomfortable, and she would like it if the girl were to back up any second now.

Unfortunately, the girl didn't seem to get the hint that Ellen would rather she back off a bit, since she reached forward and hugged her tightly, "You're so cute!" She exclaimed, "I wanna keep her to myself!"

"Let me go!" Ellen cried out, her heart beating wildly at having a stranger touch her. Her body was completely ridged, and she roughly pushed the girl away, feeling her body shake at the mere contact. She could see that the girl looked to be offended, and she looked over to Viola, and saw that the girl's smile was completely gone. Crap, she didn't know when or how, but she must have done the wrong thing. "Um…" She left it hanging awkwardly as she suddenly looked to the ground.

"I'm sorry…" The girl replied suddenly, much to Ellen's shock, "I shouldn't have hugged you like that." Ellen looked up, and examined the girl's face closely, and she did seem to be genuinely sorry, so Ellen nodded. "My name is Amy, nice to meet you." She politely bowed, realizing that Ellen wasn't a huge fan of physical contact.

Ellen again looked at Viola, who was looking at her with an expecting gaze. Knowing that Viola wanted her to respond back, Ellen licked her lips, trying to figure out the best words to say, "Uh… Amy… It's…" She didn't even know why this was so difficult for her, but she just felt so out of place and uncomfortable that she just wanted to cry, but of course she held it in. "It's… Nice to meet you." She finally settled on, she glanced at Viola again, to see if she said the right thing, and she saw her smile, making her feel very relieved.

"It's nice to meet you too Ellen!" Amy replied with a smile on her face, though it was a bit subdued compared to how it was earlier, "And I'm really sorry for hugging you without asking for permission first." She clapped her hands together and did a few quick bows, "I promise I won't do it again!"

Ellen nodded, "Ok…" She replied, not really sure what else to say. She thought it was pretty obvious that she had forgiven her when she gave her greeting, but clearly it didn't quite go through the girl's head. She squeezed Viola's hand to reassure herself more than anything, and she felt her beating heart settle down when Viola returned it with a squeeze of her own. "I know that you are sorry, I…" She tried to search for the words that she had never said in her life, "Uh… Forgive… you." That was right, forgiveness. It was an interesting concept, one she wasn't ever really acquainted with. Regardless, she hoped that Amy would find that acceptable and move on.

"Aw, thank you!" Amy smiled sweetly at her, and then turned back to Viola, much to Ellen's relief. "I see why you were busy all weekend, she is so cute!" She squealed, and Ellen blushed when she saw Viola nodded along with what the girl was saying. She was happy that Viola thought she was cute, but to admit it so openly was rather embarrassing.

"Well, I'll see you in class," Viola replied as she looked up towards the school doors, I want to show Ellen around a little bit before class begins, so she won't feel awkward around here." She explained to her friend.

Amy nodded, "Alright, I'll see you there." She then turned back to Ellen and again bowed, "And I'm sorry for making you mad! I didn't mean it!" She didn't give Ellen a chance to reply before she darted through the front doors of the school, and disappeared into the quickly growing crowd of students gathering in the building.

"She was… different." Ellen muttered, not sure what else to say. She didn't have a very favorable opinion of the girl, but she had to remind herself that when she first met Viola, she didn't have a favorable opinion of her either. "She seemed very excitable."

"Amy is always like that, though I think you really scared her when you yelled and pushed her away. I'm sorry, I guess I should have warned you that she was going to do that." She gently knocked her head, letting out a nervous chuckle.

"Don't apologize, remember?" Ellen reminded her, "Anyway, it's ok. She seems… nice. I was just caught off guard, and she kind of..." She quieted down and whispered, "Scared me." She could see the amused glint in Viola's eye, but was very thankful that the girl didn't laugh or tease her, since she knew her upbringing. "After everything with my parents, I don't really get along with people too much…"

Viola's cheer disappeared completely, and Ellen realized that it was replaced with shame, "Oh… I'm sorry, I didn't think of that." She looked down to the ground, "I wasn't thinking, I really should have warned you then…"

"Don't apologize." Ellen again repeated, "And like it said, it's ok. I just wanted you to know why I acted like that. I don't want to be mean, but it's just how I am… I don't think I'll ever really get to be like you are with people. My dad made sure of that…" She remarked bitterly, looking aside, a hateful glare in her eyes.

"I'll be sure to stick with you closely!" Viola assured the girl, "And… I'm s - ." She paused, and shook her head, realizing that saying 'sorry' wasn't what Ellen wanted to hear. "Anyway, let's go explore the school! I want to show you around before classes start!" With that, she led Ellen through the doors and into the building.

The first thing Ellen saw upon entering the building were a bunch of lockers lined up right at the entrance in a half dozen rows or so. She just allowed Viola to drag her down one of the columns of lockers, where she opened one up, presumably her own, and she reached down to take off her shoes, tossing them in there, and then pulling out a much cleaner pair. "You're switching your shoes?" Ellen asked, eyeing the process in interest.

"Yeah, these are the indoor shoes, it's so you don't track dirt and mud around from outside," She finished putting her shoes on, and tapped them on the floor a few times, "Your locker should be around here somewhere, they're usually listed alphabetically, but since you transferred, it's probably at the end." She took hold of Ellen's hand again, and she walked out of the current column and walked to the last one to the right, "Ah, see? Here you are!"

Ellen saw her name, and she curiously reached forward to pull the locker door open. It wasn't locked, so it opened quite easily, and inside were a pair of clean indoor shoes, just like Viola's. She awkwardly reached down to take her shoes off, and then put them in the locker, before pulling out her unexpected new pair. She dropped them to the floor, and put them on, tapping her feet a few times to try and get used to the new shoes. "Interesting." was her one word response to how they felt.

"They look good on you!" Viola assured her with a curt nod of her head, "Now that we've got our shoes on, I wanna show you around!" Dragging Ellen with her, she showed the girl the cafeteria, the indoor gym, the chemistry lab, the upstairs area (Which mostly just consisted of upper-classmen's classrooms), and even the roof, which Ellen particularly liked, since there were only a few scattered group of people and it gave them a bit of privacy in the otherwise very crowded building.

Ellen heard a bell suddenly play, and she looked over to Viola as they sat down together on the roof, "That means classes are going to start soon?" She summarized, figuring that it was pretty obvious.

"That's right," Viola replied, standing up, "It means that we have ten minutes to get ready and go to class. Once we get there, the teacher will probably want to talk to you so you can introduce yourself to the entire class, are you ok with that?" She looked worriedly at Ellen, who didn't seem too happy with that at all.

Ellen grimaced when Viola told her what would be required out of her, and she again felt her heart thump loudly against her chest in fear, but she let out a deep sigh, "If it's required, I'll do it. I'll just say my name and go sit down."

"There's a free seat next to me you can take, so it's not all bad. Once you introduce yourself, you can just come sit next to me, and lessons will go on like normal…" She paused, "Um, listen, one thing you'll have to keep in mind is that transfer students get a lot of attention for a week or two, so don't freak out of someone comes over to you wanting to talk."

Ellen could still clearly remember how affectionate and close Amy got that morning, and she bit her lip, "As long as they don't throw their arms around me, I'll be able to manage it. It'll be like when I was father's 'pet', so I can just ignore them like I did then."

"It's not like that," Viola shook her head, "Ellen, they just want to get to know you for real, not just talk to you as a novelty. Some of the people might even want to be your friend!" Sbe smiled at that, "Wouldn't that be wonderful to have more friends?"

"Can their motives be trusted? Why would they go up to some random student who just joined offering friendship? What benefits them? Why would I accept friendship from a person I know nothing about?" She shook her head, steeling her resolve, "No, other than you, I don't need friends. I can't trust others…"

Viola's smile faded, and was replaced with a frown, "I thought you got over that. You have to trust people. It might be hard at first, but they'll become your friends and it'll be second nature…" She let out a sigh, "We have to go to class now though, come on." She grabbed Ellen's hand again, and dragged her off of the roof and down a few flights of stairs, where they went to classroom 103. Stepping inside, she waved at the teacher.

"Ah, our new student!" The teacher muttered mostly to himself as he walked across the room. The man had one a long-sleeve sweater oddly enough, and some khaki pants. He wore small glasses that sat on the tip of his nose, and his thin lips formed a smile that reached his green eyes, and he reached a hand up and scratched his brown hair, "It's good to meet you, Ms…"

"Just call me Ellen," She insisted, "I don't care much for formality." That was the truth, if she could go the rest of her life without going to a formal party or having to address someone as Mr., Mrs., or Ms., she would be happy beyond reason. She saw her professor grin at that, and she felt a bit on guard, though Viola holding her hand at least kept her from tensing up too much to the point where the teacher would have noticed.

"Fair enough, Ellen," He tested out the word, "That sounds about right. Hm, so you and Viola are living together I take it?" Viola nodded, and he continued, "Well, I don't need to know the details, but maybe you can be a good influence on Viola, she could use a helping hand on turning in some assignments on time." He chuckled good-heartedly as Viola blushed, "Ah, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you, it was just a joke."

Viola chuckled, "It's fine, maybe she will help like you say." She took it well, and played along with it instead of getting offended, much to Ellen's surprise. If someone had so carelessly said something like that about her, she would not be a very happy girl. "Anyway, Ellen is really shy, so we want to know what she'll have to do for her introduction."

"If you like, I could handle it for you. Over the years I've had a lot of transfer students who have been really shy, and they wanted me to do their introduction for them." He explained as he led the two of them over to the podium that he would stand behind for a majority of the class period, "Alternatively, if you want to do it on your own, you don't have to talk for very long, just a few seconds even if that is what makes you comfortable."

"I – I'll talk on my own," Ellen decided. While the professor seemed nice enough, she didn't want him to reveal any information about her that she didn't want out. She didn't know whether she could fully trust him to keep such things confidential. She didn't want people to know about her real family, and how she was abused nearly to death by them, and she didn't want it to become common knowledge that she was staying with Viola. Of course, the teacher didn't know any of that to begin with, but paranoia was a strong emotion Ellen almost never let go of.

"Very well," He replied, looking through some papers, "Well, class is about to begin, you can just stand up here for now, and I'll ask you to introduce yourself once everyone is present."

"I can do that," Ellen nodded, "It shouldn't be too hard." She turned to look at Viola, who was still giving her a worried look, "I'll be fine," She whispered, "I'm stronger than that, you know it."

"I know," Viola sighed, "Just look at me when you're talking if you get nervous, ok?" She gave Ellen a quick hug, and then went to her own seat, leaving Ellen alone in the front of the class. She felt so exposed, standing up there beside the podium, and she found herself looking at the clock hanging in the back of the classroom, slowly ticking away as the minutes went by. It did little to ease her nerves, since every second was a step closer to her having to introduce herself. She was so very nervous, and she really hoped that she wouldn't freeze at all.

"Hello class," The professor called out, "Before we begin our lessons for today, I'm sure most of you have noticed that we have a transfer student!" He pointed over to Ellen, who was doing her damn best not to shake as all of the attention was drawn onto her. "Please quiet down, and allow her to introduce herself." He nodded to her, letting her know that it was her turn to speak now.

"Uh – Um…" She felt her mind freeze, oh no. Not now, her name – her stupid name, what was it?! She let out a sigh, "My name is Ellen," She whispered very quietly, so that only the first row or two could hear her, "And…" She looked to the ground, trying to think of any additional information she could add to that, but despite the fact that her mind was working in overtime, nothing seemed to be coming up.

"Her name is Ellen, for those of you in the back," The professor called out, he looked back to her, giving her a warm smile, trying to ease her tension, but it did little good. She was grateful that she wouldn't have to repeat information, but now she had nothing else to say.

Why didn't she just let the professor deal with the introduction? She felt like a deer caught in the headlights up there, and she could barely think with all of the attention focused on her. She opened and closed her mouth, feeling how dry it was, and she felt near to tears. She looked out across the crowd, and then spotted Viola, who was simply smiling encouragingly at her. She focused solely on her, ignoring everyone else. "M - My name is Ellen, and I like listening to the piano and hearing my friend sing. I also really like lilies, since they are the first flower I ever really paid attention to." She paused, and took a breath, "I don't like crowds at all, or being the center of attention, like now…" That actually caused a bit of a chuckle to go across the class, much to her surprise, "And… That's it." She kept her eyes on Viola the entire time, and she saw the girl nod once she finished, and she felt so much better just from seeing that.

"Alright, it's nice to meet you Ellen, would you please take a seat." He motion forth at the classroom, and she practically ran to the seat beside Viola. Her heart was beating so quickly and she was shaking all over, but she was proud of herself for getting through that without freaking out. She set her backpack to the side, and sat down, trying not to shake so much.

"Good work," Viola whispered over to her, "I was beginning to get worried, but then you pulled through!" She smiled at her friend, which Ellen eagerly returned with her own smile.

"Thank you," She replied, "I – I'm still shaking, but I feel better now." She let out a soft sigh and looked to the front of the class, as the professor went into the first lecture of the day with little preamble. She took out a notebook from her backpack, glad that Viola had put her supplies there for her, and began to take notes. Now that the introduction was out of the way, she felt just like a drop in the bucket – part of the natural flow of things, and she didn't feel anywhere close to as nervous as she was before.

Ellen was surprised to learn that she was beginning to enjoy herself. She actually liked hearing these lectures and learning about what the professor had to say. After an hour, the first man left and a woman came in and started talking about a different subject, so Ellen quickly switched her notebooks and started to take notes on that. Following that was yet another lecture from a different teacher, and Ellen couldn't help but find herself enjoying this immensely. After the third professor however, the bell rang and everyone started to put things away and leave the classroom.

"Is it over?" She asked, turning to look at Viola, who was busy shoving books into her desk, "You were gone for longer than this I thought, what do you do for the next four hours before you come home?"

"It's lunch time," Ellen replied, looking up after shoving the final notebook away, "We get a forty minute break to go eat and hang out with friends!" She explained, standing up, "Come on, if we don't make it to the cafeteria now, we'll miss out on all the good stuff!"

"Good stuff?" Ellen mumbled, not really sure what food would be served that made a person want to make it to the cafeteria first, but she followed Viola anyway, since the girl seemed really eager to get going. Ellen actually had a difficult time keeping up, since Viola nearly ran down the hallway to get some lunch. If this were the case, then the food must be _really_ tasty.

Upon reaching the cafeteria, they got into a line and waited over five minutes as it slowly advanced. The entire while, Ellen looked out across the place at all of the students loudly talking, eating, or some even just reading. How they could focus with all of the noise, Ellen didn't know, but she had little time to think of it, because it was finally her turn to pick something to eat, and she couldn't help but curl her lips in disgust.

_This_ is what Viola had been excited for? The food looked so greasy, and nowhere near as good as the food Viola's father made. Perhaps, however, the presentation just wasn't that good, and the food itself tasted fine. She hesitantly got the same food as Viola, and again followed the girl into the cafeteria, sticking close to her as they chose an empty table to sit at, where the two sat across from each other. They were close to some windows that showed the outside, and there was even some sunlight shining in, much to Ellen's pleasure.

Once they sat down, Viola started to eat her food immediately, leaving Ellen to stare in near disgust. Viola noticed Ellen's hesitance, and stopped eating, "what's wrong?" She asked, reaching for a napkin to clean some sauce off of her face, "It's good!"

"Yeah…" Ellen muttered looking down at it, "But… What is it?" She had never seen food like this, and she felt sick just looking at it. She reached for her own napkin and dapped it a few times to soak out the grease that coated the top of the meal, trying not to make a disgusted face so she wouldn't offend Viola, but it was increasingly hard to do.

"It's called Pizza!" Viola told her friend, "I was a bit iffy on it too when I first saw it, but it's delicious!" She took yet another bite, and let out a pleased moan.

"I see…" Ellen murmured, looking down at it, and then she reached forth and took hold of it like how Viola was holding it, and brought it up to her mouth. She bit down on it, and began to chew. It was definitely an odd combination – the cheese, sauce, and bread, but… it wasn't too bad, she supposed. The amount of grease on it was worrying though, since that couldn't be very healthy, so she quickly wiped away more of it with her napkin, before she resumed eating it.

Unfortunately, the silence was interrupted as Amy bounced over, "Hey Viola, Ellen!" She sat down beside Ellen, much to the girl's annoyance, and took a big bite of her food. Once she swallowed she look at Ellen, "So, how was your first class?"

"It was…" Ellen paused, trying to think how to describe it, and she noticed that Viola too was looking at her with interesting, "Fun." She finally settled on, "I've never been to a public school before, and I found it really interesting how a teaching style changes based on how many students are present." That was true, when she was being home schooled, the professor's attention was always on her and always demanded that she kept up, but at this place, the teacher's attention had to be everywhere at once, and it wasn't as demanding.

"Oh really? You've never been to a public school?" Amy asked, "Did you go to like a private school for geniuses then?!" Her eyes were wide as she asked that, and Ellen wasn't sure whether to believe that Amy was actually being serious with her question or not, so she just shook her head in the negative. "Bummer…" Amy sighed.

"So you were being serious when you said that you knew the rumored transfer student," another girl sat down beside Viola, with a book out in front of her instead of any food. The girl's hair was relatively short and black, only hanging an inch or two below her ears. Her eyes were blue, covered with a pair of small glasses, and they looked over at Ellen. She was of course wearing the same school uniform that all of them were wearing, "Everyone is talking about you right now, but apparently Viola is hogging you to herself."

"Hey! I'm just showing her around! If people want to talk to her, they don't have to wait for me to leave!" She crossed her arms and let out a huff, "Seriously…" The new girl giggled at her reaction, quickly followed by Amy. Ellen instead just watched her, hoping that with Viola by her, no one would talk to her.

"Anyway, my name is Rebecca, but please just call me Becky." She introduced herself to Ellen, "I have to admit, I figured you'd be a bit more outgoing, but from what I hear from others in your class, you're very quiet and focus on your work the entire time." She nodded approvingly, "That's good. Maybe you'll be a good influence on Viola then."

"Ack! You too?" Viola cried, "Our homeroom professor said the exact same thing!" She looked down dejectedly, "Everyone's teaming up against me." Ellen could tell that Viola was just goofing around with her theatrics, and she found it fascinating how the girl interacted with her friends, so she just kept quiet.

"Don't worry Vi, I haven't turned in a single assignment since school started!" Amy exclaimed as if that were something to be proud about. The dead silence that met her when she said that made her look around, "Hey… Come on, you're all being quiet."

"Sorry," Becky muttered, shaking her head as she looked back down at her book, "I just underestimated the levels of your stupidity." Ellen tried to hold in her laugh at that, but she let out a noticeably loud puff of air as she tried to hold it in, getting their attention unintentionally, causing her to blush lightly.

"Holy crap! You got her to laugh! If only it wasn't at my expense…" Amy went from being happy to dejected within a second flat, "Why do you do this to me Becky~?" She whined, "We've been friends since elementary school!" She placed her head on the table, pretending to cry.

Becky rolled her eyes as she looked back up to her friend, "If there was a theater class, you'd ace that at least…"She turned back to Viola, "Plus, your words probably did little to comfort Viola, she at least turns in some of her assignments."

"School work is boring," Viola sighed, "I wish I could ignore them and be blissfully ignorant like Amy, but I think daddy would have a fit if I started doing poorly in school!" She shuddered at the thought of having her father's anger focused on her – something of which has only happened a few times in her life.

"Don't worry," Ellen whispered quietly, still a little nervous to be around new people, "I'll help you with your homework." Her heart fluttered at the appreciative smile that Viola gave her, and she smiled slightly as well, warming up ever so slowly to Viola's friend's presence.

"Why don't you offer me help like that?!" Amy exclaimed, turning to Becky, "You should be more like Ellen – she is so cute!" She turned to Ellen and was about to wrap her arms around her, but reconsidered, "Well… She's cute to look at and sounds cute, anyway." She chuckled, clearly remembering that morning, "But still!"

"I _have_ offered to help you before," Becky replied, lifting up her book and lightly tapping her friend's head from across the table, "But you instead decided to play video games or browse the internet instead."

"Video games…?" Ellen muttered, looking at them curiously. She realized that she had talked aloud again when all three girls yet again looked at her, and she internally cursed her curiosity for garnering unwanted attention upon herself. "Forget I said anything…" She murmured as she looked at their surprised faces.

"Figures that she wouldn't know," Amy sighed, "if she did, she'd understand that you can't study when there's so many better things to be doing!" She nodded, as if that explained everything.

Becky however was still examining the girl, "How don't you know what a video game is?" She asked after a few more seconds finally elapsed, "even if you've never played one before, I find it difficult to believe that you honestly don't know what they are, especially if you've been going to school for so long."

Ellen narrowed her eyes at the girl, trying to decide if she were an enemy. She looked beside the girl at Viola, who was giving her a curious look. If she was Viola's friend, then surely she wasn't an enemy, but even with that in mind, she felt wary as she answered, "I'm sorry, but I've been home schooled, so I haven't really been around others that much." She was willing to indulge that much information at least, but nothing beyond that.

"Hm…" Becky hummed, before she finally shrugged, "I suppose that makes sense." Ellen knew that the girl suspected that she wasn't telling the whole truth, but fortunately she was willing to let it drop, much to Ellen's relief. Becky turned back to her book, while both Amy and Viola began to talk again.

Ellen took a couple more bites of her pizza, enjoying the pleasant atmosphere when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes widened – that was where her father would yank her around – and she quickly shot to her feet knocking the offending hand away and glaring at the person who did it. Her whole body was shaking, and before she knew it, she realized she made a mistake… Of course her father wouldn't be here, it was just some kid…

"Well, she's a bit feisty, isn't she?" Ellen heard the person say in a drawl, and she immediately disliked her based on that alone. It was a girl who was a year or two older than her, she couldn't really tell other than the slight height difference. The girl had blonde hair, a darker shade than Viola's that went down her back in a long ponytail, and she had yellow eyes that looked somewhat similar to her golden eyes. She wore the school uniform they all did, and her arms were crossed confidently across her chest, and she had a few other girls flanking her, looking similar to the girl.

"I'm sorry," Ellen replied, though she really didn't mean it. Just from the way this girl stood, she already didn't like her. She reeked of arrogance and self-importance, and Ellen wished that she would go away so the atmosphere would return to the pleasant one that was present prior. Unfortunately, the girl sat down in the seat beside Ellen, despite the fact that she didn't even have anything to eat.

"For the record, my name is Emilia, I'd appreciate it if you remembered it, thank you." She flashed an obviously fake smile, and Ellen had to restrain herself from grimacing. Surely Viola wasn't friends with a person like this, especially since Viola was always honest, straight forward, and kind. She watched in surprise as Emilia then turned to Viola, "How has your day been so far?"

"It has been great," Viola replied, giving the girl a genuine and earnest smile, "I mean, classes have been as boring as usual, but Ellen really helps to make things interesting!" Ellen watched curiously at Viola, wondering what she was playing at for interacting with someone like this.

"Yes, I suppose Ellen would make things interesting, hm?" She looked back towards the purple haired girl, her eyes calculating, "I wonder how this year will go for you? Well, it doesn't matter, as long as you don't do anything out of the ordinary, nothing bad will happen." Ellen couldn't help but glare at her for that – it sounded like a thinly-veiled threat to her. Her glare only seemed to make Emilia smile wider, "You're so cute."

Ellen watched in utter disgust as Viola, Amy, and the rest of the girls seemed to suck up to Emilia, the only exception being Becky, who also seemed to be just as disgusted as she was. Ellen quickly revised her opinion of the girl after that, since they both seemed to be on the same page when it came to Emilia: that page being the fact that she couldn't be trusted. Finally after a painfully long ten minutes, Emilia got up and left, her whole posse following suit. Ellen waited a few seconds for her to go, before she stated loudly for the first time that day, "Why do you interact with her?"

"What do you mean?" Viola asked, blinking in surprise at how agitated Ellen seemed to be. She was being so quiet when the girl was around that she didn't even really notice until now.

"Wha – What do I mean?" Ellen looked shocked, "I mean you were just boosting her ego! It's clear that she doesn't consider you a friend! The only reason she came over here was to make a point, presumably to me, that she is the 'leader' so to speak." She was beginning to shake since she was getting so mad, "She reminded me of my dad… He would always do that to people, let them know that he's the boss…"

"I agree," Becky replied immediately, "I've been telling you guys that for so long, and you still say that you're friends with her. She's two grades above us, and she has everyone following her around like she's a queen. I don't like her one bit."

"So just because she's the most popular girl in school, she has to be interacting with us for the wrong reasons?" Amy asked, clearly annoyed for real now at Becky, "She is nice enough, and we don't follow her around like all of those other girls either."

"I agree with Amy," Viola nodded along with what Amy was saying, "She probably talks to us because we're the only ones who don't treat her like she's the leader of the world." She wasn't quite as annoyed as Amy, but it was clear that she disapproved of both of Ellen and Becky's accusations.

Ellen's mouth dropped open – did Viola really not see what was going on? Did she think that Emilia was genuinely just hanging out with her for no other reason than to hang out? She narrowed her eyes as she looked at the table – she knew that Viola's kindness would be taken advantage of, and it evidently already was. It was blinding her from seeing what was truly going on, and Ellen couldn't help but feel very angry all of the sudden. "Viola… I would never lie to you, so believe me when I guarantee you that she doesn't see you as a friend."

Viola frowned, looking down at the few bits that remained of her food, "I don't know…" She mumbled. She clearly valued Ellen's opinion, but she also liked her friendship with Emilia, "I mean… She can be kind of rude occasionally, but I think she's really a good person at heart."

Ellen opened her mouth to retort, but closed it shortly after, deciding that it was perhaps not a battle worth fighting, since Emilia did say that as long as she went with the flow in school, she wouldn't do anything to her. Plus, the girl was going to be graduating to high school in a year, so she wouldn't have to deal with her for much longer anyway. Regardless, it was still a bit unsettling to know how much influence that Emilia seemed to command in the school.

"Class is going to start soon," Becky muttered standing up, closing her book, "It was nice to meet you Ellen, and I hope we can become friends." She nodded to her, which Ellen returned. Now that she had some mutual ground with the girl, she didn't seem so bad after all. "Come on Amy, class is going to start soon." She looked over at the girl across the table as she stated that, waiting patiently.

"Yeah, I'm comin!" Amy replied, gripping her tray as she stood up, "See you two around! It was nice to see you again Ellen!" She gave a short wave, which Ellen hesitantly returned, causing the girl to smile, "Maybe this weekend we can have a sleepover at my place? It could be fun!"

"Didn't you do that _this_ weekend?" Becky replied, rolling her eyes, "Won't your parents get annoyed with having friends over so often?"

"Nah!" Amy shook her head side to side so quickly that Ellen got dizzy just watching her, "They'll be more than happy, and I'm sure they would love to meet my new friend!" Ellen didn't say anything, but she would appreciate it if the girl weren't to make such assumptions, she hardly considered Amy to be her friend in any regard.

"Hm, we'll think about it." Viola replied, standing up, which caused Ellen to stand up along with her. If Viola was ready to go, so was she. "It could be fun." She shrugged as she looked over to Ellen, who replied with a non-committal shrug. She didn't necessarily _like_ them, but both Becky and Amy were at least all right.

"It was nice to meet you," Ellen replied quietly, "Let's…" She thought hard about what she was about to say, "Let's eat together again tomorrow, ok?" She wasn't really in a position to make requests, but she figured that if she were to ever get over what her father did to her, she should at least attempt to make friends.

"You are so cute!" Amy yelled loudly, causing more than a few people to look over, "Of course we will! It'll be a lot of fun, maybe I can bring some cards so we can play a little bit before class!" Ellen simply nodded, a bright blush crossing her face over all of the attention Amy drew to her.

"I won't be as enthusiastic as Amy is, but sure. If I don't eat here, she'll drag me anyway." She rolled her eyes at the outraged squawk that came from the girl beside her, and a slight smile crossed her face, "We have some things in common anyway, so I would've come here regardless." Ellen returned the smile, glad that she was extending her friendship. She might not accept it yet, but she was glad that the offer was there regardless.

As both Amy and Becky walked away, Viola turned to Ellen with a wide smile, "You like them, right? I mean, I know you don't really care for Emilia and all…" She trailed off, averting her eyes, "But they have been friends with me for years… I hope you can come to trust them as much as I have."

"I don't know about trust," Ellen mumbled, "But they are genuine in their emotions, so I can at least respect them. Maybe we could become friends eventually, but… You know I'm not comfortable with befriending people…"

"I know," Viola nodded, "And I understand. Anyway, Becky was right, class is going to start soon, ready to go?"

Ellen nodded, "Yeah, let's go."

The rest of the school was similar to the first half, with Ellen being interested in all of the classes and taking diligent notes. Even though she hadn't been present for the start, she was easily able to pick up where the class was, and acted as if she had naturally been there all along. The entire time, Viola kept stealing glances at her, amazed to see Ellen actually become so invested in something, even if that something was school work. All too soon however, it was over, and Ellen was busy putting the notes and books she would need for their assignments that night in her backpack

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?" Viola asked as Ellen stood up slinging her bag over her shoulder. She couldn't help but smile at how Ellen embarrassedly averted her eyes, and a blush covered her face, "no, it's fine! I'm happy for you, it's just really neat to see you become so interested in something."

"Well I've always liked learning," Ellen admitted to the girl, eyeing the room as the rest of the students were packing up and chatting with one another. When she was sure that none of them were listening in, she explained, "When I was being home schooled, it was one of the few times when I could sort of 'escape' my situation and focus on something else… I guess I kind of just grew to enjoy it after a while."

"Ah, I see…" Viola nodded, "Well, I'm glad that you focused your energy on something good. It's really going to help you now," She smiled, "Let's go… I've been wanting to spend some time with you, but with all of these people here…" She looked around the room, and Ellen nodded in understanding. Both girls had made sure not to let a single hint of their relationship get out to the student body. Viola placed her hand on Ellen's arm, "Come on."

Ellen didn't need to be told twice, and as they were both leaving the room, and she was again thankful that the other students were staying away due to Viola 'hogging' her. It was a stupid thing to think, but Ellen was glad that they thought that way, since she had no desire to talk to anyone on the way out. They went to their shoe lockers and switched their shoes out, and then left the building.

School was very interesting, and Ellen felt foolish for being so frightened earlier that day. Not only did she enjoy it, but she also met two new people who she could see herself befriending. Though she really hoped that Emilia didn't become an issue any time soon. If that girl were to learn what her past was like, or what her relationship to Viola was… She shuddered at the mere thought. She shook the thought away as Viola pulled her over to the bus, where they'd be able to go home and have some much wanted alone time.

Ellen didn't even realize that as she was heading to the bus, she was smiling the whole way.

XxXxXxX

Notes:

So I originally just wanted this to be a two-shot and that's that, but I just wanted to continue in this universe a little more. I didn't forget about the whole deal with Ellen's parents and the CPS, but I want to get through the school arc first before I move into the trial arc.

This might be updated again, but like my previous notes, don't expect it. Both times I've updated this it has been on a whim when I was bored at work.

On an unrelated note, I have a story that is nearly 100k words long that is a sequel to Transcendent Trust and Bond of Trust. It's still a really rough draft, and I haven't written the ending yet, but for the most part it's done. I just need to go through and edit it all, which is a huge task, since it will also mean that I'll have to rewrite any continuity errors and the like. I don't know if it'll ever be posted, but that's what I've been working on for the past month and a half.


	4. Birthday

Birthday

Ellen noticed immediately that something was off that morning when she woke up in Viola's bed completely alone. That was uncommon, but there was nothing in particular that was wrong with it. However she couldn't help but feel a bit paranoid, not having Viola with her. She sat up, and looked down to the floor where the sleeping bag she never really used sat, figuring that Viola might have slept there. Upon not seeing her, Ellen frowned, and swung her legs over the edge of the bed so she could finally stand up.

She stretched her arms out as far as they could go, and she suppressed a large yawn to just a small breath of air. Blinking her eyes a few times, she looked around the empty room, trying to see if she could see any signs of where Viola could have possibly gone, but yet again, there was nothing around. Letting out a sigh, Ellen finally turned to look at the clock, and saw that it read 6:30 in the morning, and her senses increased tenfold. Waking up this early wasn't uncommon for herself, but for Viola? That was practically unheard of.

"Viola, where are you?" She called out in the still dark room, making sure to avoid stepping on the clothes scattered across the floor as she made her way to the door. She grimaced as she stepped on a shirt, and made a mental note to finally get around to cleaning this room later today. When she reached the door, she opened it up, making sure to turn on her room light so it would illuminate in the hallway. "Hello?" She called out.

Again there was no reply, and the growing sense of worry and fear began to consume her mind. She forcibly pushed it back, but it didn't stop the irrational feelings one bit. She took a step out in the hall, still dressed in her blue pajamas, not caring if either Viola or her father saw her then, with her hair all tangled and hanging all over the place. Right now, she just wanted to make sure her new family was safe.

She had only moved in about two months ago, and she had really been enjoying her time here, if something happened to either Viola or Viola's father, she didn't know what she would do now. She relied on them for emotional support far more than she would ever be willing to admit, and if they were gone… No! Of course they weren't gone! Why would she even think of something horrible like that? She reached a hand up to cover her rapidly beating heart, and again looked forward, approaching the stairs leading down.

Her senses were still hyperaware due to her increasingly panicked state, and she made sure to be as quiet as possible when she was going down the stairs, her ears perked up, making sure to listen for any sound at all. Her breath caught in her throat when she heard some voices in the kitchen, and upon listening even harder, she recognized them as both Viola and her father. She let out a breath, and a few tears left her eyes – which she quickly wiped away. She was so scared that something might have happened to them…

"Do you hear that?" Ellen heard Viola ask her father, "Do you think it's Ellen?"

"Hm, she usually wakes up at this time, so yeah, probably." Ellen tensed up a little bit, but she relaxed when she heard Mike call out, "Ellen? Are you there? Come join us for breakfast, won't you?" She smiled lightly, glad that everything was all right.

"O – Ok." She called out, walking down the rest of the stairs and turning into the kitchen, where Viola and her father were both sitting at the table, looking at her when she walked in. "Um… what's for breakfast?" She awkwardly asked, walking over to the table and taking a seat by Viola, who looked just as bad as she did, with her hair all messed up, and there were bags visible under her eyes, why did she wake up so early?

"Whatever you want," Mike answered, standing up and going over to the counter, "Do you want eggs? Ham? French Toast?" He listed off everything he could think of, causing Ellen to again get suspicious. Why was he asking her this?

"Um… Whatever you want is ok…" She replied, but she saw Mike again shake his head. "You want me to pick?" He nodded, "Um…" she paused, trying to think of what her favorite breakfast food was, and she finally answered, "I guess French Toast sounds good…" She hesitantly answered.

"French Toast it is," Mike turned around and began to gather the supplies for that breakfast, and Ellen watched him the whole time. It was weird that he asked, but she supposed she wouldn't question it. He rarely made French toast since Viola disliked it, much to her disappointment, but she turned to look at Viola, to see that the girl was smiling regardless. Now she was beginning to get a little freaked out, "What's going on?" She finally asked, tired of not having an answer.

"What do you mean?" Viola asked, and Ellen saw that she was genuinely confused, "Don't you know what today is?" Ellen frowned, looking down at her lap, trying to determine what was significant about that day.

"We have a test in English today…" Ellen mumbled, "But that's the only significant thing I can think of. Is today a holiday I'm unaware of?" She looked back up at Viola, and she noticed Mike from the corner of her eye giving her an odd look. She really hoped that she wouldn't look dumb for not knowing this…

"Don't even remind me about that test…" Viola grumbled, but then she shook her head, "But that's not it! Today isn't a holiday either! Come on Ellen, it's your birthday silly!" She grinned happily at Ellen, "Happy birthday!"

"Birthday?" She mumbled. That's right, she was born on the 28th of September, and that was today. "What of it?" She asked, "I'm twelve today, why is that important?" She saw the surprised look on Viola's face, and a flash of anger on Mike's face, but she knew it wasn't directed at her. She already had an idea of what it was now, "Oh… It's something that families celebrate?" That would explain why she had never experienced something like this before.

Viola's cheer diminished considerably, "Yeah…" She nodded, "A birthday is supposed to be a very happy day when you get together with your family and celebrate the last year of your life!" She explained, looking very sad, "I didn't think about how it was for you before you came here..."

Ellen smiled, "That's fine, Viola, I don't mind. If this is a customary thing for families to do together, then I would be very happy to celebrate it with you two, but…" She blushed slightly, "I don't really know what to do…" She scratched her cheek sheepishly as she averted her eyes away from Viola.

"That's fine!" Viola declared, finding her energy and cheer again, "We'll make this the best birthday you have ever had!" Ellen decided not to say the obvious – that it wasn't a very hard bar to surpass, since her family had never once celebrated her birthday beyond buying her a cat once when she was really little.

"Ok," Ellen nodded, "So I suppose making me what I wanted for breakfast is the first step in this birthday celebration?" She turned to look at Mike, and smiled at him, "I was wondering what was going on." She felt relieved to know that there was actually nothing wrong at all, and she settled back down in her seat, looking back to Viola again, "But why did you wake up so early? I was worried when I woke up."

"That's a secret!" Viola exclaimed, smiling happily yet again, "You'll like it a lot, trust me!"

"I trust you," Ellen replied immediately, wanting there to be no doubt in Viola's mind about that, "Though I'm very curious to find out whatever it is you were doing." She added on shortly after, since she found herself going over it over and over in her head, trying to determine why exactly Viola would have to get up so early. She watched the smile widen on Viola's face, and she knew that there would be no answers from her any time soon.

"So since it's Ellen's birthday we don't have to go to school, right?" Viola asked casually over her shoulder to her father as if it were a given. Ellen watched Viola's father suppress a laugh, and she too chuckled, knowing that there was no way Viola was going to get what she wanted. Viola sensed it too, and turned back around in her seat and let out a sigh, "Well… I guess I have to take this English test…"

"We can review a bit right now if you want," Ellen replied immediately, "I can go get my notes, and while your dad is making breakfast, we can practice." She went to stand up, but Viola stood up immediately, and Ellen gave her a confused look, "Uh, Viola?" She asked hesitantly, "What are you doing?"

"It's your birthday!" Viola declared, crossing her arms, "You don't need to go get it, I'll do it for you!" She rushed out of the room before Ellen could even get a word in otherwise, and a bewildered Ellen looked back towards Mike.

"Yeah, she gets like that sometimes," Mike chuckled as he broke a few eggs into a bowl, following it up with a small bit of cinnamon, "It started when her mom was really sick during her birthday, and she kept it up ever since. Don't bother trying to talk her out of it, the girl can be quite stubborn when she wants to be."

"I see…" Ellen mumbled, interested to learn something new about her best friend. "But I really don't need any help. The fact that you two feel the need to celebrate this day at all is more than enough for me, and knowing that you two care about me so much makes me really happy…" She blinked a few happy tears away, not wanting to make Mike concerned. "My… parents…" She distastefully stated, hating even calling them that, "would never celebrate it with me, and I just came to accept that there was nothing special about the day, or about me…"

"Ellen, that's not true, you know." He let out a loud sigh, "I won't even pretend to know what you've gone through, so I won't tell you how you should feel now, but I promise that I'll give you all of the attention you need." He turned back to the stove, making sure to lower the temperature down, "I've actually been wanting to ask you for a while now, but I didn't know if any time was good enough…" He humorlessly chuckled, "I want you to know that you can call me 'dad' if you want. You don't have to, obviously, but I'll treat you just as well as Viola – I don't want you to think that you're playing second fiddle here, is all I'm saying."

"Even if I was, I wouldn't mind." Ellen murmured, "But thank you so much. You don't know how much it means to me to hear you say that… D – Dad…" She tried out the word, and since it was in reference to Mike, she didn't feel the disdain she usually felt when she uttered the word. It was such a foreign concept to her to have a father that didn't hate her, one that actually cared about her wellbeing, one that wanted her to go out and do the best she could do. "Thank you so much…" She whispered, unsure if he could even hear her.

"You're welcome," He replied quietly, knowing that Ellen would want to compose herself. He had been with her long enough to know that Ellen didn't like displaying her emotions openly nearly as much as Viola did. He turned back around to continue cooking when he suddenly a chair being pushed away from the table, and then he felt someone hugging him from behind. He blinked in surprise and asked, "Are you ok, Ellen?"

"Yeah," She replied, hugging him as tightly as she could, "I just want to thank you, and Viola taught me that this is a good way to thank you for something…" She felt him turn around and wrap his own arms around her. She felt so warm and loved – both amazing feelings that she wished she had always experienced all of her life.

"Like I said, you're welcome, and Viola's right, I do like to receive hugs from my daughters." Ellen's eyes widened when he said 'daughters' instead of daughter, meaning that he counted her as one of his children. She felt tears brimming in her eyes, and she buried her face in his shirt, allowing herself to cry.

He held her for a little bit as she cried, and then he slowly let her go, allowing her to recomposed herself, "Thank you again," She mumbled, "And I'll try to be the best daughter I can be." She nodded, steeling her resolve. She wiped her eyes a few times, and returned back to the table, allowing Mike to continue cooking the meal she requested. As if right on cue, Viola entered the room.

"Sorry, I didn't know where you kept your notebook! I thought it was in your backpack, but then I realized that you studied last night and it was on the desk in my room the entire time!" She let out a gasp, and it was clear that she had run all over, "Anyway… We can study now, right?" She walked over to the table, and put the notebook on it, sitting beside Ellen.

"Of course," Ellen replied, giving her a soft smile, then she felt Viola's hand grip her own, and she smiled even wider. She hoped that Mi – her dad – wouldn't mind their relationship when he found out. Usually the thought would have scared her, but she was on such a good natural high that she honestly didn't care that much.

Today was going to be a good day.

XxXxXxX

"Happy birthday!" Amy yelled loudly as she ran over to Viola and Ellen as they walked together towards class in the hall. If anyone wasn't aware of what significance the date held towards Ellen, they certainly did now. She reached her arms out, and Ellen feared that the girl was going to hug her, but her arms stopped a few inches from her skin, "Mental hug!" She cried, "I'm so happy for you!"

"Mental hug?" Ellen mumbled, looking over to Viola, who was giggling at the display. Ellen turned back to looking at the girl in front of her, her eyebrow raised in confusion. Apparently Amy could see it, and she crossed her arms, sticking her lips out in a pout.

"You won't let me touch you so that is the best I can do for you!" Amy explained, "I'm mentally hugging you, that way you don't have to feel it!" She grinned, and then she started to laugh, causing Ellen to simply sigh at the girl's antics, and Viola to struggle not to laugh even harder than she already was. She finally stopped laughing though, "But seriously, happy birthday." Amy muttered sincerely.

Ellen nodded, "Thank you, and since it's my birthday…" She couldn't believe that she was going to indulge the girl, but she reached forward and wrapped her hands around her and hugged her briefly, before pulling back. She just wanted to make the girl happy for a moment, especially since she remembered her birthday of all days, but it looked as though Amy were going to have a meltdown now, since she was shaking. "Um… Amy?" Ellen muttered, watching the girl in concern.

"You are too adorable!" Amy cried, "I just want to take you home and we can be best friends and play dress up and you can keep being so cute!" She ranted on and on, causing Ellen to look over to Viola for help. Viola chuckled at the pleading look on Ellen's face, and she stepped forward.

"Amy, you're making Ellen uncomfortable again," Viola explained, standing by Ellen's side, placing a hand on her shoulder, "You know she is really shy, right?" Ellen gave Viola an annoyed glance – of course she would word it like that, which as expected, caused Amy to gush a little more before agreeing not to be too much of an – in her own words – Ellen fan-girl.

"You are really something else, you know that Amy?" Ellen muttered, looking down the hall at the students gathered, glad that none of them were looking at their group anymore. She unconsciously dusted her school uniform's skirt, a nervous tick she created for herself as she attended school, and then she turned her attention back to them, "I have to admit, when I heard about 'friends' for the first time, I wasn't quite expecting you."

"So you consider me your friend?" Amy asked, her eyes wide and shining brightly. Ellen's face turned white – oh no, she promised herself that she would never admit that to the girl, but she just let it slip out! She was becoming too relaxed around these people! "Then you don't mind if I hug you, right?" Amy pounced Ellen, wrapping her arms around her, "Ellen's my friend, Ellen's my friend!" She chanted.

"H – Hey!" Ellen cried, "Get off me!" She demanded, though her own voice betrayed her by mixing her words with a few chuckles here and there. She had gotten _really_ used to Amy's antics, and since the girl's constant displays of affection were so commonplace and genuine, she honestly didn't mind it _too_ much anymore. "If you keep hugging me, it'll lose it novelty!" She decided to say, hoping that Amy would decide that it was indeed the case.

"Oh…" Amy let go of her, "That's true! Good thinking, Ellen!" She gave the girl a thumbs up, which Ellen returned, albeit a little hesitantly. She really hoped she wasn't making this worse for herself in the long run.

Viola glanced over to see Becky walking up to them, and as was usual for the girl, she had a book in her hand that most of her attention was on, "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation from halfway across the school," She deadpanned, looking primarily at Amy, who stuck her tongue out at the girl, "It's your birthday, right?" She turned her gaze back towards Ellen, who gave a small nod, "Congratulations on becoming a year older, how do you feel?"

"About the same as I did yesterday," Ellen muttered, "Though much better than I did a year ago, that's for sure." She couldn't even remember what her birthday was like last year, since it was probably as insignificant to her as any other day back then. She had probably curled up in her bed and cried herself to sleep, as she was prone to do back then – that or she was very sick.

"Ellen?" Viola muttered, knocking the girl out of her thoughts, "Are you ok? You kind of look angry…" Ellen blinked a few times, and gave Viola a small smile, "The fact that you're smiling kind of concerns me a bit too…"

"I was just thinking to my last birthday," She admitted to Viola, not caring that Amy and Becky were there to hear it, "I wasn't too happy back then, and thinking about today relative to how it was then makes me angry…" She let out a sigh, and her smile widened, "But then I think about now, with you, your dad, and…" She turned to look at Becky and Amy, "My F – Friends… And it just makes me feel really happy."

Becky gave Ellen a calculating gaze once again, undoubtedly about what she mentioned of her past, but she shook her head, "I see. Regardless of your past, I'm glad that you're happy now."

"Me too!" Amy nodded quickly in agreement with Becky, and Viola made sure to nod along with the two girls.

"Yeah, I'm really glad about it too," Ellen chuckled, knowing that she was stating the obvious, but she really didn't care, "But we really ought to study for our English test now, Viola and I were reviewing it this morning, but we can have a quick study session with the four of us if you two are up for it," She replied to both Amy and Becky.

"That's not a bad idea," Becky replied, closing her book and making sure to pocket it, and she pushed her glasses up her nose a bit, "I'm sure Amy would benefit greatly from a quick study session."

"Hey!" Amy cried, crossing her arms, "I totally did study for it!" She looking aside, "For about five minutes…" She whispered quietly so that only the group could hear it and no one overheard it at all. Ellen and Becky let out a sigh, while Viola gave the girl a sympathetic look, knowing what it was like to be there.

With that, the group of four walked to their classroom, and pushed four desks together, and began to study for their English test later that day. For most of them, it was simply review, for Amy, it was a vital resource that she was very thankful to have.

After that, Ellen fell back into a routine of things. Most people actually didn't know it was her birthday, so it began to feel like any other day of the week, which she was actually thankful for. She wasn't sure how she'd be able to handle much more special treatment, and given how she reacted to how Viola's dad – no, _her_ dad – talked to her this morning, she was afraid that she might start to cry again. Showing emotions around those she loved and befriended was ok, as far as she was concerned, but where people could see her in public? No way!

Nothing significant happened for the rest of the school day, she took the English test and aced it, she went to all of the required classes, had lunch without Emilia showing up, and hung out with Viola and their friends. Overall, it was a fun day, but it was like any other day except for the morning. If that was all there was to a birthday, then Ellen was already satisfied with it, but she knew that Viola had a surprise up her sleeve for later, and that was something she looked forward to. Viola could give her a rock and she'd love it, so as far as she was concerned, the surprise was going to be great no matter what.

"Hey, Ellen, school's out, stop daydreaming!" Ellen felt a hand rest on her shoulder, startling her out of her thoughts as her head darted towards the offending person. Her glare disappeared immediately once she realized it was Viola who laid a hand on her, and her features softened enough to form a smile. Viola returned the smile with one of her own and asked, "Scared you, huh?"

"I've got to stop reacting like that when I feel someone touching me," Ellen muttered, her cheeks a bit flushed for a few reasons – reacting like that to Viola's touch, of all people, made her ashamed of herself. Furthermore, the fact that she was daydreaming during class, something she rarely did, made her a bit embarrassed, especially since she was the one who always made sure that Viola did well in school now.

"It's understandable why you do it," Viola responded back, and she left it at that, not delving into it anymore. "So are you excited?" She asked, her eyes lighting up even as she asked the question, "What were you daydreaming about it?"

"If you're referring to my birthday, then yes, I am excited, and that is what I was thinking about." She decided that lying about it would get her nowhere, plus, she doubted she could even plausibly lie to Viola at all to begin with. She quickly packed her books away into either her desk or her backpack, and then she stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder, "So… What are we going to do now?"

"Hey Viola! We're here!" Amy came over like the hurricane she was, almost knocking a few people over, all of them giving her a dirty look which she completely ignored. She finally reached an amused Viola's side, pulling some of her black hair back behind her ears, and her brown eyes were alight with excitement, "And so is our birthday girl, are you excited, hm?"

"You're going to embarrass her at this rate," Becky mutter, walking up alongside Amy, "Well… Even more than you are right now, I mean." She grinned at the red color that was currently flushed across Ellen's cheeks, "I know I wouldn't want people to know my own business." She then buried her face back in her book, continuing to read it as she was prone to do.

"You two are here for my birthday?" Ellen asked, looking at the two newcomers. She did consider them to be friends, so she wasn't _too_ concerned, but still, she had hoped that she could just spend the day with Viola, maybe even pretend that they were on a date or something – that really would have made her day. Still, she was pleased with how much each individual cared for her, so she wasn't going to complain much really.

"Yep!" Amy triumphantly claimed, crossing her arms and grinning like an insane person – which Ellen thought of her as on more than one occasion. Becky simply nodded, her face never leaving the pages of her book, and Viola was giving her a very bright smile as she nodded along with Becky as well. "For today, we are your servants!"

"Oh really?" An amused smile crossed Ellen's face, "then you'd be willing to buy me some cake?" She asked it jokingly, not really being serious, since she doubted that Amy had any money in the first place.

"Well, _I _can't, but I know who can…" Her eyes glanced over to Viola, and Viola reached into her school uniform pocket, pulling out a small wallet she kept most of her change and money in, and actually pulled out a credit card.

"What?" Ellen blinked a few times at the nearly foreign object. She knew what it was, but to see it in Viola's possession was something new. "Is this the surprise then?" She thought about it, would that explain why Viola was up so early? Because her dad was explaining to her the rules for using his card?

"Part of the reason," Viola agreed, "Daddy gave this to me and told me that we can go into town today and shop around!" She paused, and then recited what her father surely told her, "We can't go crazy with it, but as long as we're good, we can do a lot…" Viola's eyes shined with a foreign look, but if Ellen had to place it, she'd claim that it was mischievous, something she normally wouldn't associate with Viola.

"Oh!" Amy gasped, "We can take Ellen to an arcade so she can figure out what a video game is!" She turned to Ellen, "Doesn't that sound like fun?!" Ellen took a step back from the extremely excitable girl, and turned to look towards Becky who she backed into.

Becky raised her hand before Ellen could apologize, "Don't worry about it, a lot of people back away from Amy." She ignored the squawk of disdain from said girl, "She is right in that we can do whatever you want, but we don't have to go to an arcade though…" Her eyes also shone with excitement, and Ellen felt like she was caught between animals now.

"Come on, it'll be fun, we can do all of that and more!" Viola clapped her hands together, pulling off an innocent look, but Ellen narrowed her eyes at her. She was playing along with the two of them! They were all trying to make her feel uncomfortable! She wanted to be annoyed with them all, she really did, but she knew it was in good fun, and each of them just wanted her to have a good time.

"What's first then?" She hesitantly asked, leaving the choice up to them. Though there was a bit of debate, they decided to first do as Ellen asked – get her some cake. Even though it was a joking request, she wouldn't deny having some free cake, so all of them girls quickly heaved their backpacks over their shoulders (Well, Amy would have if she decided to bring anything to study home with her), and they went off.

XxXxXxX

If Ellen were forced to describe the day she had, she'd be hesitant to use such cliché phrases as 'best day ever', or 'happiest moment of my life' but well, it certainly was one of the best days she had ever experienced, and while it didn't quite rank up there with the moments when Viola's dad told her that she could call him her own dad, or when she escaped her old life and ran into Viola and Mike, but it was certainly high on her list for one of the happiest times of her life that she knew she'd be recalling for years.

As she had requested earlier, they started it off with some cake, which Ellen absolutely loved, especially any cake with coconut in it, which was quickly becoming one of her favorite foods, much to the disgust of all of the other girls. They spent a little while there, simply talking about random things, something that Ellen adored – she didn't really add much to the conversation, but just being around her friends, hearing them laugh and giggle and talk about things made her so relaxed. Of course, they did try to include the 'birthday girl' in on it, but other than a few comments here and there, she was quiet. If she had to guess, she knew that both Viola and Becky were aware of the fact that she didn't particularly care for talking about gossip that much, but Amy apparently missed the memo.

Afterwards, they went and did Amy's plan of fun, going to the arcade, and Ellen's eyes widened at all of the games on display. She marveled at how one could simply control a character with buttons, and she immediately demanded that she be allowed to play some of them, which Viola quickly complied with, using her dad's card to get them all some tokens. Ellen quickly hopped onto the first machine she could, and quickly began to play it.

"You need to dodge the bullets – they keep hitting you," Amy told the purple haired girl as she stood beside her at the machine Ellen was playing on.

"I know that," Ellen replied immediately, jerking the joystick to the left quickly to avoid what looked like several dozen bullets, "It's hard!" She exclaimed as another barrage of bullets came at her and destroyed her ship once again. She let out a growl and glared at the machine as it told her that she needed to continue, and a few people on machines beside her quickly left to go play elsewhere before she had a meltdown.

"Relax!" Amy told the girl, "You're playing one of the hardest games here! Of course you're going to die constantly since you just started!" She quickly inserted another coin so Ellen could keep playing, and the two had a blast as time rolled by.

Viola and Becky both sat a bench nearby, watching the two girls playing games. Becky was reading a book, while Viola kept her eye on Ellen and Amy, keeping track of time as well. She was glad to see that Ellen was having a good time, but she really hoped the girl would be ready to leave soon. She didn't particularly care for arcades or video games, and at this rate, she feared that Amy would convert Ellen into a 'gamer', as they were called. Not that there was anything wrong with that, of course!

"Looks like she's having a lot of fun," Becky noted, looking up from her book for the first time since they got there, "It's heartwarming to see her enjoying herself so much. Amy can be a handful, but at least you know you'll have a good time when you're with her." She watched Amy cheer Ellen on, boosting the girl's confidence to continue playing.

"Yeah…" Viola nodded, her eyes narrowing at Amy as she watched them. Now that she thought of it, the girl _was_ getting pretty cozy there with Ellen, and Ellen was LETTING her do it! Usually she would at least tell Amy to back off, or at least tell her to stop touching her so much, but right now Amy was practically leaning right into her as she played!

"Jealous?" Becky asked, her eyes looking towards Viola now, dancing with humor, "You think Ellen is spending too much time with Amy and not with you?"

Viola shook out of her glare, and looked over at Becky, her cheeks lighting up on fire as she realized that she was caught. Fortunately, Becky didn't realize the extent of her and Ellen's relationship with one another, or_ why _she was becoming jealous, but she was pretty close in any regard. "I'm just being silly," Viola muttered, her cheeks still on fire, "Thank you for snapping me out of that."

"No problem, that's what friends are for, right?" Becky chuckled, looking back over at Ellen, "Though at this rate, I don't know if we'll ever leave…" She let out a sigh, and looked back down at her book, opening it up to the page she was on before, and she resumed reading.

Viola meanwhile looked back over to Ellen and began to count time. Another hour passed, and along with Becky, they forced both Ellen and Amy out of the arcade. While both were resistant at first, Viola reminded them that it was Ellen's birthday, and there were a _lot_ of other things they could do that day. They decided to go with Becky's idea next, and they all went to visit a bookstore.

It seemed stereotypical for her to pick that, Viola couldn't help but humorously think as she followed Ellen around the store. Amy had run off to the comics immediately, and Becky went to who knows where, which left her with Ellen, not that she minded. In fact, given how close Amy seemed to be with her before, she was more than satisfied with being paired up with Ellen.

"What kind of books do you read?" Ellen asked finally, turning to look at her, "This store is huge, so I don't really know where to begin." She looked up and around, and Viola had to agree – though the bookstore was in town, the building it used was quite a bit larger than it seemed possible. There were mountains of books everywhere, and her view of the entire building was obscured by shelves that went way above her. The building looked more like a library than a store!

"Um…" Viola shook out of her thoughts, and tried to think of what exactly she could have Ellen try out, "I don't really read much," She admitted, "I like to play piano and sing more than reading…" She chuckled hesitantly when she just watched Ellen observing her. It was actually starting to make her feel nervous, even though she knew that Ellen was just paying close attention to what she was saying and didn't mean anything by it. "The few books I have read were some romance novels, and I guess I liked them ok, typical girly stuff, you know."

Granted, those novels involved relationships between a man and a woman, something which she was just beginning to realize she wasn't really into all that much. Briefly she wondered if there were any involving women, but she quickly shook her head – if there were, they definitely wouldn't be mainstream, and she doubted the store would sell them.

"Romance, huh?" Ellen looked forward pensively, her eyes glazed over as her thoughts went to a distant memory, "I remember my mom used to read romance stories." She frowned, "She'd sit by the fireplace while I would play with my cat, and I remember she'd always cry when reading them… I never really thought about it before, but I wonder why she was crying." She only vaguely remembered those times, before her dosage of pills was upped and she became even sicker – before she knew the truth about her horrible parents.

"Oh…" Viola looked aside, feeling shame for bringing up such a memory for her, "I'm sorry, I didn't think it would make you remember then."

"It's fine," Ellen shook her head, giving her a warm smile, "Instead, I want to know why you've been so needy for the past hour." She grinned when she saw Viola begin to sputter, "That proves it then – what's up?"

Viola was very glad that Ellen changed the subject to something else, she _really_ was, but why did the girl have to change it to that of all things? "I don't know what you're talking about." She immediately stated, crossing her arms defiantly, "I haven't been needy at all."

Ellen's raised an eyebrow, something of which Viola was surprised by – she certainly couldn't do that! Regardless, she refocused her attention back on Ellen's face as the girl started to talk, "Well, after we left the arcade, you held my hand the entire way there, which isn't too weird, but you kept glancing at me, and I couldn't help but notice that you were giving Amy a few dirty looks, and then once we came in here, you insisted on sticking with me…" She left it hanging, looking back up at Viola again.

The blonde haired girl let out a sigh, "Fine, but don't laugh, ok?" She felt her cheeks begin to burn, "I was getting jealous, ok? You were letting Amy hang onto you in the arcade, and you weren't telling her to get off! So I was just getting a little annoyed, that's all! Nothing else!"

Ellen smiled sweetly at her, and Viola's flare of embarrassed anger disappeared completely when she noticed how shiny her eyes were – was she about to cry?! "It makes me really happy that you feel that strongly about me," Ellen replied, quickly wiping her eyes before any tears fell, "But I promise you that there is nothing going on between Amy and I. We were just really into the game, I didn't even notice she was doing it, and I doubt she noticed either."

Viola let out a loud groan, "I'm sorry, it's really dumb." She felt like an idiot for allowing her insecurities to get to her like that, of course there was nothing going on, why would there be? So Amy and Ellen made a connection via video games, who cared? She should be glad that Ellen was getting along with her friends, not openly disdain it like she was doing.

"It is, but I like it all the same," Ellen answered, and she looked around, her golden eyes curiously looking up and down the hallway, before settling back on Viola, "And…" She leaned forward and planted a quick kiss on Viola's lips, "I love you." She smiled brightly as Viola's entire face turned a deep shade of red, a shade that only started to fade once they were leaving the store. In the end, Viola had picked out several books for Ellen to read as she was in her blissful daze, and she could hardly remember what she picked at all. She only hoped that none of the books were too embarrassing.

The next stop in 'Ellen's Birthday Tour of Town' was a clothing store, the first of many that the four girls would visit. Ellen quickly learned that she was beginning to really like shopping, especially when she had what felt like an unlimited amount of money to spend. She loved trying on new clothes, looking at jewelry, and being with her friends. She just loved feeling like a normal girl, something which, before two months ago, she never experienced at all. It was an exhilarating experience, but all too quickly, it was winding down, and the four of them were walking together as the sun began to set in the distance.

"Thank you all for the good time," Ellen told her friends, holding onto a bag from the book store, while Viola was holding most of the clothes they bought, claiming that Ellen shouldn't have to carry them because she was the 'birthday' girl. Ellen knew better than to argue, remember her dad's words from that morning, so she just went along with it. As the four stopped at a stoplight, Amy and Becky gave a short wave.

"We have to go the opposite way from here," Becky claimed, pointing behind her, "It was a lot of fun today, Ellen, we should do it again sometime." She smiled at the girl and gave another wave.

"I'll miss you!" Amy cried, latching onto Ellen again. Ellen allowed it once more, and Viola felt jealously burning in her again, but she quelled it as Amy let go, "It was a ton of fun, we should go to the arcade again sometime, playing with you was a blast!"

Ellen nodded a bit too eagerly, for Viola's liking, and she stated, "Yeah! Next time we'll beat that stupid game!" She then waved to both Amy and Becky as they left, and Viola made sure to join in. Ellen then looked at Viola, and grinned, "It's just you and me now…"

Viola's heart thumped loudly against her chest as her blue eyes examined Ellen's golden ones, "Yes, it is…" She muttered, feeling warmth spread through her, "Though daddy's gonna be home when we get there." She pointed out.

Ellen looked to the side, her cheeks turning a bit red, "Want to make a short detour through the park?"

Viola's own face was probably a match for Ellen's, and she nodded, "Y – Yeah, I think I would…" She mumbled, "Daddy can wait another half hour, right?" She saw Ellen eagerly nod, and despite the amount of bags they were carrying, they still managed to find a way to hold hands as they decided to walk through the park together, with just the two of them and a lot of privacy from prying eyes.

XxXxXxX

They saw the car already parked in the garage, so they only hoped that their dad hadn't been waiting for too long – even if he was, Viola knew that she could probably get away from any trouble by claiming that Ellen was just having a good time. She knew that he treated her well, and cared for her wellbeing, so much so that if Viola had to be honest, it did start to make her jealous. However, she knew that Ellen had been through a _lot_, and her daddy was just trying to make it better for her, and it was for that reason that Viola didn't allow her jealously to go anywhere, plus, she too cared about Ellen.

"We're home!" Viola shouted once they entered the front door and she took her shoes off. She dropped the bags off to the side, letting out a loud sigh as she finally rid herself of the bags she were carrying. She couldn't help but look forward to slipping into something more comfortable than her school sailor suit, and she could tell just from the way Ellen was looking that she was relieved as well.

"Welcome back," Her father responded, stepping out of the kitchen doorway and into the hall where they were, "You two were gone for longer than I expected." He noted, but they could tell that he didn't mean anything by it due to his smile, "I hope you're ready for your 'surprise', as Viola called it."

"I am!" Ellen nodded, and Viola noticed that the girl seemed a lot more excitable. For all her talk about including Amy and Becky as her friends, she still didn't seem to show as much emotion around them as she did around Viola and her dad, and Viola felt a sort of satisfaction from that, knowing that Ellen trusted her so much.

"Well, I suppose we can get the more grim business out of the way first, could you come with me to the kitchen?" He asked, turning around and heading to the kitchen, presumably to sit at the table there. Ellen hesitated a bit, looking back at Viola, her eyes filled with a bit of worry.

"It's nothing, he makes it sounds worse than it really is." Viola encouragingly told the girl, grabbing her hand and taking the first few steps. Ellen slowly built confidence however, and was able to walk the rest of the way into the room without needing Viola's help. Feeling happy that the girl found her confidence again, she still held her hand, something with Ellen really appreciated.

Upon entering the kitchen, Ellen spotted Mr. Whiskers walking over to her to meow right up at her. "Not yet," Ellen told her cat, "once I'm done talking, I'll play with you, ok?" The cat seemed unsatisfied though, and meowed again. Unsure of what else to do, Ellen picked up the cat, and sat down at the table holding it. Viola watched in amusement as Ellen cradled her cat like she would a child… She couldn't help but wonder if that is what Ellen would do at her parents' house, when she cried herself to sleep… She shook her head of the disturbing thought, and reached over to grab her hand, much to Ellen's confusion.

"As you know, Viola and I were up early this morning," Mike started, taking a deep breath. Ellen waited patiently for the man still dressed in his work outfit to formulate the words, having grown quite patient for such trivia things due to her upbringing. "I got some letters in the mail today, and I've been keeping up with the CPS over the phone," Ellen stiffen, and she gripped her cat tightly. "You've been with us for a few months now, and I wasn't kidding this morning when I told you that you could call me your dad, because…" He chuckled, "Well, here you go." He pulled out a letter from his pocket, and passed it over.

Ellen let go of her cat with one hand to briefly reach for the letter, and she looked into the already opened envelop, pulling out the important documents. She noticed that Viola seemed to be very interested too, and she opened up the letter. Being only twelve, her reading wasn't the best, but it was still miles above average, so Ellen struggled little with the contents of the letter, her eyes widening as she went through it. "I – I'm your daughter for real now…" She mumbled, she looked up, tears glistening in her eyes, "That's why you said that…" It shouldn't have been shocking for her, but really, but now that she _knew_ that he was legally her guardian and protector, it seemed to make a world of difference.

"In addition to that, however, we've received this," He handed her another letter which was opened. "It's stating that the investigation into your father has turned up some results that will be very difficult for him to explain… There is enough evidence around to convict him, or so they say, so the CPS is going to take him to court on your behalf. Unfortunately, the trial is slated to start in about six months, and your father is a very powerful person – someone who carries a lot of influence and money, so it might take even longer. In addition to that, you'll need to be present at the case when it begins."

Ellen really appreciated that he was being completely straight with her, letting her know all of the facts and such about her father's conviction, "If it'll send the bastard to jail, then I'll do anything you need me to do." She stated, and she saw Viola wince at her use of language, "Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to cuss!" She told the girl beside her.

Viola shook her head, "No… You're right, the b – bastard." She sounded out the word, saying it for perhaps the first time in her life, much to Ellen's surprise, "he really does deserve it, for what he did to you." She nodded firmly, stalwart in her belief. Ellen was surprised by that, usually Viola would be the one to try and make someone out to be good or try to find a good side, but she refused to even do such a thing for this man because of what he did to her. Ellen felt herself grow even fonder of Viola, if it were even possible at this point. At this point, she didn't think anything would make her able to see Viola in a negative light.

"I'd appreciate it if you two refrain from using that word from now on," Mike muttered, "But I feel the same way. Plus, when this heads to court, we'll all be there with you, so you won't be alone." Ellen gave a curt nod, and Mike let out a loud sigh, "Anyway, that's all for that stuff, do you want me to hold onto those letters for you?"

Ellen looked down at the two notes she had, and she handed them back to the man. A few months back, she would want complete proof of everything, but now, simply knowing was more than enough for her, especially with these two around. "I'd like you to hold them," she told him, leaning back in her chair as he took hold of them and put them away in his pocket, "Thank you, dad." She tried the word again, her face turning a bit red. It was still hard to believe that she now had a loving father, but she could get used to it pretty quickly, she figured.

Mike chuckled, "You're welcome, dear, but that's not all. The other reason Viola and I were up so early this morning is still in the oven. We had to cook it while you were asleep, since you two are practically inseparable during the day. Once it was done, we left it there, and then when I got home, I decorated it a bit, I'm not master at this though, so don't expect it to be amazing." He stood up, and walked over to the oven, which he opened up and pulled out a layered cake. Ellen's eyes widened in delight upon seeing the treat, "Viola told me that you liked chocolate, so that's what we went with."

"I _love_ chocolate," Ellen quickly corrected, "If I had known you made me a cake, I wouldn't have wanted to go to the cake shop earlier!" She eyed the cake as it was brought over to the table, and she noticed that her cat was eyeing it as well. She gently set the cat back down to the floor before returning her attention to the cake that was in front of her, and she noticed that there were twelve candles burning atop it.

"You need to blow out all of the candles," Viola pointed out to her quietly, "It's a tradition – and when you're blowing them out, you need to make a wish!" Ellen nodded, and did as she asked, blowing out all of the candles atop the cake in one deep breath. "You did it!" Viola cheered, "So what did you wish for?"

Ellen gave her a warm smile, glad to be with her new family. Her old parents were going to lose custody of her, and her new one genuinely cared for her. Nothing could ever match what she was feeling right now, so her wish was quite easy to make, as far as she was concerned. She noticed both Mike and Viola looking at her curiously, so she answered the question, "I didn't make one – I have everything I want already." It was a cheesy thing to say, and she felt embarrassed just saying it, but she meant every single word.

Earlier she was thinking about how this could qualify as the happiest day of her life, but now, she knew without a doubt, that she was the happiest she had ever been in her whole life, and she looked forward to many more happy days with her new family and friends, hoping to experience everything she could.

XxXxXxX

Notes:

Next chapter, whenever it is released, is going to be another school based chapter.

Thank you for reading!


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